春节，故土再牵 Chinese New Year

The first time I learnt to appreciate the magical powers of Chinese New Year was in January 2009, just months after I left home to attend university in London.

到伦敦上大学几个月后的2009年1月，我第一次感受到了中国春节的神奇力量。

Buried under a pile of homework and reading lists, I made no special plans for the festival, thinking that I should resist the cliché of the Chinese celebration, after having done it all these years.

成堆的作业和阅读书单，让我无暇顾及春节，而且过了那么多年的春节，也想摆脱一下春节的那些凡俗陋习。

But when the sky darkened, and streets grew cold, I suddenly missed home. I remembered the warmth of mom’s dumplings, the lanterns hanging in the doorway, and the joyful bangs of the firecrackers that my cousins and I used to light against the dark sky.

然而，当夜幕降临，街上人迹稀少，我的思乡之情油然而生。我不禁想念妈妈做的热腾腾的饺子，想念门上高悬的红灯笼，想念我和兄弟姐妹们燃放的爆竹划过静寂的夜空后发出的清脆悦耳的砰砰声。

Luckily, my childhood classmate Sally was also studying in London, so I called her up and arranged for a celebration – on a somewhat smaller scale than what we were both used to at home, but we felt that the gesture of the celebration gave us a meaningful start of the new year.

还好，我小时候的同学萨莉也在伦敦上学，于是我就打电话约她一起过年。虽然不如在家的时候热闹，但我们都觉得过春节对开启新的一年，意义非凡。

Although Sally and I were just polite classmates throughout secondary school, that Chinese New Year meal became a watershed moment bonding us as very good friends ever since. Perhaps it was our shared journey to reconnect with our childhood memories that drew us close.  

中学时代，我与萨莉相敬如宾，但这顿年夜饭，让我们从此成为挚友。也许是共同的经历，让我们重新找回了孩提时代的记忆，也让我们走得更近。

Looking back, Chinese New Year memories filled a significant chunk of my childhood. Weeks ahead of the celebration, my grandma would start knitting new jumpers, for me and my cousins to wear on New Year day.

回首往事，春节占据了童年的许多记忆。每逢春节临近，我奶奶就会提前几星期开始编织新毛衣，让我和兄弟姐妹们在春节那天穿上。

I loved cutting out paper flowers on thin layers of red paper to stick on our doors and windows. The feeling of opening my eyes on New Year morning and seeing these beautiful flowers made my heart sing.

我很喜欢在薄薄的红纸上剪些纸花，贴在门窗上。大年初一的早晨，睡眼惺忪地看到这些精美的剪纸，真是心花怒放。

The doorbell at my grandma’s flat never stopped ringing throughout the day, as family, friends and neighbors visited to share their best wishes. In the afternoons our extended family would all gather in the kitchen making buns and dumplings, chatting and occasionally glancing over the television that played special New Year shows in the background.

正月初一那天，奶奶家的门铃总是响个不停，亲戚、朋友和邻居纷纷来串门拜年。下午，我们全家就会一起聚在厨房里，一边包饺子、聊天，一边看电视上播放的新年特别节目。

Sitting down for the big meal, my mom, dad, aunties and uncles would always share their old memories of New Year meals from their childhoods – for them, the chance to enjoy a hearty meal at a time when food was still scarce, is just something to look forward to for the whole year. They never got tired of telling these stories, and us children never got bored of listening.

围坐在一起聚餐时，父母和叔叔阿姨们总是会回忆起他们从小到大过春节时吃的东西。在食品短缺的年代，他们一年到头都盼着过年，这样春节能享受一顿丰盛的大餐。这个时候，我们这些孩童总是能耐心地听他们不厌其烦地叙述着那些往事。

After we’ve filled our tummies with delicious food and deserts, there would be a moment when one cousin remembers that we’ve not yet collected our red packets yet. Then, one by one, us children would kneel down and bow to our elders to get these lucky monies. It is an old custom to sleep with the red packets under our pillows to attract good luck, but we just go to sleep dreaming about the sweets we would buy the next day.

吃饱喝足美味食物和甜点后，总会有弟弟妹妹提醒我们还没有收到红包。这时，我们这些孩子会轮流向长辈下跪鞠躬，接受红包。睡觉时把红包压在枕头底下是一个古老的习俗，象征着招徕好运，不过我们常常梦到的是第二天要买的糖果。

Fun memories aside, I must say that Chinese New Year took on more significance after my parents and I moved to New Zealand. We often looked forward to it months ahead, as a once in a year rare opportunity to fly back to China and unite with our extended family.

有趣的回忆暂且不谈。父母带我移民新西兰后，春节就更有意义了。我们常常盼着这天的到来，这是每年一次的难得机会，我们可以飞回中国，与大家庭团聚。

My Western friends have often asked me if Chinese New Year is comparable to Christmas. I suppose the joy and atmosphere could be similar, but beyond that I felt it is also a time of reflection and opportunity to reconnect with my Chinese roots.

我的西方朋友经常问我，春节是否可以与圣诞节相提并论。我觉得两者的喜庆氛围相似，但春节还是一个思念乡情的时节，它把我与中国的根重新联结在一起。

Over the past ten years I felt glad to see Chinese New Year celebrations in London, Manchester and Leeds growing beyond imagination, bringing the most amazing food, music and lion dance performances to local British people and tourists from around the world.

十年一晃而过，我欣喜地看到伦敦、曼彻斯特和利兹的春节庆祝活动超乎想象，为英国本地居民和世界各地游客献上了美不胜收的食物、音乐和舞狮表演。

Walking along London’s buzzing Chinatown and seeing the big smiles on visitors’ faces as they share the joy of the Chinese festival, I felt proud of my culture and I felt at home.  

漫步在伦敦熙熙攘攘的唐人街上，看到游人欢庆春节时脸上洋溢着的灿然的笑容，我为我的文化深感自豪，好像又回到了自己的家乡。