Yuan Liang told Xiaoxiang Morning News on January 25 that he and his wife plan to return to China in twenty days. In the future, he hopes to open a Chinese language training school in Russia so that more Russians can learn about Chinese culture.
Hunan guy spends Chinese New Year with his Russian wife
Bringing his wife's family to spend Chinese New Year
In 2019, Yuan Liang, a man from Yueyang, Hunan province, received a marriage license with Lina, a Russian girl 12 years younger, who returned to Russia three months later due to an illness, and since then the two of them have not been able to see each other because of epidemics and the Russia-Ukraine conflict thousands of miles away from each other.
Until Nov. 25, 2022, Yuan Liang finally came to Moscow and met his lover after three years of separation.
On Jan. 25, Yuan Liang told the Xiaoxiang Morning Post that he and Lina decided to return to China in 20 days, before which he accompanied his wife's family and spent the New Year's Eve in Novosibirsk, Russia.
"January 21 is New Year's Eve in China, and I made a reservation at a local Chinese restaurant a week in advance." Yuan Liang said it was one of the bigger Chinese restaurants in the area, and interestingly, the owner was a Russian, but managed to make authentic Chinese flavors with Russian ingredients.
Local Chinese art troupe invited by restaurant owner to perform
On New Year's Eve, Yuan Liang invited his wife, in-laws and his wife's sister and brother-in-law to join him for New Year's Eve. When their group arrived at the restaurant, they were instantly infected by the rich Chinese New Year flavor. Red lanterns hung all over the restaurant, looking joyful. The owner of the restaurant had invited a local Chinese art troupe to perform, with beautiful Russian girls wearing cheongsams and dancing shoes, holding Chinese silk fans and dancing to the music. In the troupe, there were also people dressed as Chinese dragons in plush yellow dragon costumes. On New Year's Eve, the Chinese restaurant attracted a lot of people for dinner, and Yuan Liang noticed that besides him, those who came to the Chinese restaurant for Chinese New Year were basically Russians, some of them international students who had been to China before, some of them doing business in China, and all of them had a strong Chinese complex.
Braised fish
Yuan Liang ordered eight dishes and ate the familiar taste of his hometown, full of happiness. What impressed him most was one of the braised fish served in a large iron pot. Although the fish was made from the fish in the Obi River in Russia, the method was Chinese. The whole fish lay inside a rich braised sauce with cilantro and scallions sprinkled on top. "They often eat raw fish over here and don't cook it like we do. This was my father-in-law's first time eating Chinese food, and at first he was worried, but it turned out that he really enjoyed it that day." Yuan Liang revealed that they practiced CD-ROM action that day and ate every dish cleanly.
"But this year I didn't give them New Year's red packets and New Year's money." Yuan Liang told reporters with a smile that when he went to Russia in the first year, he reported a joke because of it. Because of cultural differences, the locals don't understand the way to send money directly, they prefer small gifts hidden in the box and full of surprises. So this year, he specially live-streamed the Chinese Spring Festival Gala for his wife's family to watch, taking them to experience traditional Chinese culture. "My father-in-law said he would like to go to China for New Year's Eve afterward."
Hunan boy accompanies his Russian wife's family to celebrate Chinese New Year
Sending Chinese gifts to experience the Russian New Year
Yuan Liang told Xiaoxiang Morning Post that he also celebrated Russian New Year this year. Unlike Chinese New Year, Russian New Year is January 1st.
"They don't celebrate New Year's as grand as we do, they also cook a lot of dishes for New Year's Eve, they invite their families, and they also set off fireworks, but not as much as we do. _"Yuan Liang said the Russians like to eat fish is very simple to make, from the cold river, ice, and then sunshine, you can eat. They also like to eat salads, raw cucumbers, cabbage and bell peppers, but they are very sweet to eat. Russians don't have a New Year's Eve observance, but everyone will play from New Year's Day, until the next morning. Before New Year's Eve, Russians will purchase a pine tree in advance as a New Year's tree, and they will not interact with red envelopes; instead, each person will prepare gifts for their family members and hide them under the New Year's tree in advance. On New Year's Day, everyone will interact with the gifts, for example, we will prepare gifts for each member of the family, and we will receive gifts prepared by each of them, and everyone will be surprised. "I prepared Chinese knots for them, refrigerator stickers with Chinese elements, such as Tiananmen Square in Beijing and giant pandas. Be the first to open the gift when you receive it or the other person will think you don't like it."
Yuan Liang said that after giving each other gifts, they would play games together, such as You Show Me Guess, and also play a local game of cards, somewhat similar to Chinese mahjong. "My wife, Fruit, she had never won before, and this year I went over and she won for the first time."
Yuan Liang and Lina
Twenty days later will take his wife back to China
On Jan. 24, Yuan Liang's wife, Lina, got a visa to China. Lina's depression is still not fully recovered, worrying that the long flight will affect his wife's health, Yuan Liang made a decision to return the original flight ticket to Shenzhen and return to China in a different way.
"According to the original plan to go back to China from Novosibirsk, you need to go around to Moscow and then arrive in Shenzhen, the total flight length is more than 14 hours." Yuan Liang plans to first take his wife by train to Irkutsk, where Lake Baikal is located, and then take a plane to Harbin, where the flight time is just over an hour, and then take a break before flying from Harbin to Changsha. Or she could fly to Vladivostok, then board an international bus to Mudanjiang, China, and enter China through the Suifenhe port. "I'm still torn on the exact way, and plan to leave in twenty days."
Yuan Liang said he and Lina would still return to Russia after a few years in China. "My father-in-law is 60, and we want to spend more time with him in his later years."
Besides visiting friends and relatives on this trip to Russia, Yuan Liang didn't stay idle. He already has a plan for the future in his head - to open a Chinese language training school in Russia with the help of his many years of experience as a university lecturer.
"Probably because of the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war, more and more local people have stopped learning English and started learning Chinese. Opening a Chinese training school can let more Russians understand Chinese culture and attract more people to recognize China, go to China and understand China." Yuan Liang said.
Xiaoxiang Morning Post reporter Zhou Lingru