Foreign students learn how to make dumplings during Spring Festival in Tianjin on February 17

For those who would like to understand Chinese culture, the Spring Festival or the Chinese Lunar New Year is an occasion not to be missed. With more and more Africans celebrating the Spring Festival in China, here's a look at how the event is seen through African eyes.

Time for family reunion

Cameroonian Rêve, who declined to give his full name, has been learning Chinese since 2011. His interest in the language was whetted after he got married to a Chinese woman from northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Rêve described how he met her. It was a chance encounter on a train. "She was staring at me," Rêve recalled that fateful first meeting. "Then she came over and told me, 'You are so handsome! I like Africans.' And we got into a conversation and got to know each other."  

After their marriage, Rêve went to his wife's hometown with her to celebrate the Spring Festival every year. "I knew for the Chinese, the Lunar New Year is the annual family reunion time. So it was essential I accompany my wife to her parents' place," he said.

In Cameroon, New Year's Eve is called La Saint-Sylvestre. On every December 31, family members gather to usher in the New Year with a hearty feast as part of the new year festivities.  

Nevertheless, Rêve feels the Chinese New Year stands for family reunion even more. "I have seen many Chinese living abroad buying expensive air tickets just to go home for the Spring Festival. I am moved by such deep affection," he told ChinAfrica.

His first Spring Festival in Liaoning with his parents-in-law made him very nervous at first. "But they were nice to me, even with the language barrier," he said. He was particularly impressed by younger family members kowtowing to elders. "It was the first time I experienced this unique Chinese custom," Rêve said. "It showed respect for seniors."

He found the sight of older family members giving red envelopes containing money to younger ones touching as well, saying it showed affection and care.

Rêve is already familiar with many Spring Festival traditions, thanks to his Chinese wife. He knows the Chinese word "Fu," meaning good luck, should be written and hung upside down to bring blessings to the family, and if there is fish on the table, the family will enjoy affluence throughout the year.

Rêve said he had never seen such a big meal as the one they enjoyed on Spring Festival Eve. "My mother-in-law is a good cook," he said. "We had chicken, duck, fish, pork and much more. In addition, there were dumplings, the most traditional food."

In many parts of China, especially in the north, people eat jiaozi, or dumplings, on Chinese New Year Eve. On that evening, the most important activity for the whole family is to make dumplings together.  

"I couldn't wait to start eating the dumplings," Rêve said. "I want my wife to teach me how to make dumplings so that when I return to Cameroon, I can make them for my family members and friends there."

But one thing about the Chinese festival gives him a headache - firecrackers. "Although we too have fireworks in Africa, I can't bear this setting off firecrackers all day and all night long. I can't sleep because of the racket," he complained.

Atmosphere fading

When he was 14, Gabonese teen Luc Bendza became obsessed with Bruce Lee's films depicting extraordinary martial art skills. It made him decide to go to China to study martial arts. After 30 years, "China is my second home," he told ChinAfrica in fluent Chinese.

About eight years ago, Bendza married a Chinese woman from Hebei Province, and the couple now has a three-year-old son. Every Spring Festival, they return to her parental home in provincial capital city of Shijiazhuang to celebrate.

He feels deeply about the festival, thanks to living in China for many years. "It's a time when people can lay aside their work and worries and reunite with family and friends, staying up late to usher the New Year in," he said.

Bendza has embraced Chinese culture and adopted new year customs. "Foreigners should not look at other cultures rigidly. Instead, they should try to appreciate another culture by blending into it," he said.

But in recent years he has been feeling the festival is becoming boring. "Besides visiting friends and relatives, there seems to be nothing left to do except eating, drinking and watching the Spring Festival Gala," he added.

He has also noted that many young people these days celebrate Western festivals such as Christmas and Valentine's Day with greater ardor than the Spring Festival. "The Spring Festival, like Peking Opera and Chinese martial arts, is one of the symbols of traditional Chinese culture," he remarked. "Yet it is now being downplayed. By contrast, American culture is growing more popular in China and indeed, in the entire world. Shouldn't that cause a lot of soul-searching for us?"

Bendza also pointed out that during this Spring Festival, some people gave "lucky money" to friends and relatives via the popular mobile app WeChat. "Earlier, people used to visit one another to wish them a happy new year. But this Lunar New Year many young people received or gave hong baos, or red envelopes containing money, via the Internet and that really dulled the flavor of the festival." 

The grievances reflect what even some Chinese are thinking, concurred Wan Jianzhong, Director of the Institute of Folklore and Cultural Anthropology, Beijing Normal University. "The old atmosphere is fading mainly because interpersonal relationship is being criticized for being too impersonal."

According to Wan, China used to be an acquaintance society where groups of people got together during the Spring Festival to consolidate ties of affection. But now they are drifting apart. Also, due to improved living standards, even the lavish family reunion dinner has ceased to be novel for people who can enjoy good food anytime.

However, Wan remains optimistic. Technology, he pointed out, brings various possibilities and options and these would diversify the Spring Festival celebration as well. "The Chinese think the New Year is going to get better," he said. "And the traditional Spring Festival will always be a festival of reunion."