“I came out today to do some reading at a café. I wanted some quiet space before the holidays. I’m not going anywhere for the Spring Festival this year because I couldn’t buy tickets to travel. We’re just going to take it easy for this holiday, maybe go out and walk around the city.

I’ve got a little one at home: eight years old, a little princess. I worry about her though…She needs a break from Beijing. There’s a new Disney World opening up in Shanghai this summer, I’m definitely going to take her there. There will definitely be a lot of people going. Staying in one city doing the same thing over and over again gets boring. People need to get out every now and then.”

Every year we celebrate Chūnjié (春节), a time when Chinese people reunite with friends and family. However, our parents passed away several years ago, so in order to avoid feeling sad during the new year, we decided to spend Chūnjié every year traveling in a different country or in other places in China.

Our daughter goes to high school in the U.S., and so we haven’t celebrated Chūnjié together as a family since 2014; we really miss her. She recently sent us a photo collage of things her and her friends miss most about Chūnjié: eating jiăozi (饺子)/dumplings and of course, tāngyuán (汤圆)/sweet glutinous rice ball soup. Though, this year will still be enjoyable. My brother and his wife will be joining us in Taiwan for a week.