在华过个中国年

在华过个中国年

Spring Festival Enchants Foreigners

自从2014年来到北京之后，每年春节萨巴·阿里·埃尔·塔伊布就会买一个毛绒动物玩具。

因为今年是鸡年，所以她就在王府井买了一个小鸡玩具。去年是猴年，她就买了一个可爱的小猴子。

塔伊布来自苏丹，目前正在北京语言大学学习文学，她说道：“在我完成学业之后，我会把这些玩具带回家，它们会让我回想起在中国的时光。”塔伊布说：“在中国过春节让我更爱中国了。”

塔伊布所在的大学举办了一场活动，外国学生们可以尝试亲手包饺子。塔伊布说对于春节，她最喜欢的就是这件事儿了：“在我的国家我们也有类似的很重要的餐宴，我们会吃特殊的食物,并互相送上最好的祝福。”

除了吃饺子以外，中国新年也是看庙会、挂灯笼、剪纸、祈福和祭祖的日子。

巴斯马也是北京语言大学的学生，她来自埃及，她说想去朝阳公园看庙会。

这个姑娘从2012年开始就一直在北京，曾经在距离北京300公里远的石家庄一位中国同学的家里度过一个春节。

2014年的春节给巴斯马留下了深刻的印象。她现在还记得她同学的父亲是怎样留下几盘菜肴以供家里逝去的先人享用的。

类似的，埃及人也会在祖先的坟墓上留下水果和面包等祭品。据巴斯马说，中国和埃及两种文化都源于对家人的尊重。

和中国人一样，许多外国人也会在大门上贴对联，祈求好运。

玛丽是一名住在北京的英国翻译，她的一名中国朋友送了她一副对联。她把对联贴在了公寓门上、拍了一张自己站在门前的照片，然后发给了她远在英国的父母。她说：“这副对联表达了对未来的希望，还包含中国人的‘和谐’精神。”

Since arriving in Beijing to study in 2014, every Chinese New Year Sabaa Ali El-Tayeb has bought a stuffed toy animal.

This year, the Year of the Rooster, she bought a rooster on Wangfujing, a busy commercial street in downtown Beijing. Last year, the year of the Monkey, she bought a lovely monkey toy.

"I will take these toys back home, and when I finish my degree they will remind me of my time in China." said the Sudanese woman, who is studying literature at Beijing Language and Culture University.

"Celebrating Spring Festival in China makes me love China even more." said Tayeb.

Tayeb’s university organized an event where foreign students could try their hands at making dumplings, a traditional food eaten during the festival.

Tayeb said she liked this aspect of the festival the most. "Back home we have similar important meals where we eat specific food and extend our best wishes to each other."

Besides dumplings, Chinese New Year is a time for temple fairs, red lanterns, paper-cuts, blessings of good fortune and ancestor worship. Basma Bayomy, an Egyptian student at the same university, said she planned to visit a temple fair in Chaoyang Park.

The girl, who has been in Beijing since 2012, spent one Spring Festival at her Chinese classmate’s home in Shijiazhuang, a city 300 km south of Beijing.

Bayomy was deeply impressed with the Spring Festival in 2014. She remembers how her classmate’s father left out plates of food for their families’ ancestors.

Similarly, Egyptians leave offerings of fruit and bread on the graves of their ancestors. Both traditions, Bayomy said, are rooted in respect for the family.

Like Chinese, many foreigners put couplets, Chinese characters wishing for good fortune, on their front doors.

Marie, a British translator in Beijing, was sent a couplet by her Chinese friend. She stuck them on the door of her apartment, took a photo of herself standing in front of it, and shared it with her parents in Britain.

"These couplets are an expression of hope for the future and contain the Chinese spirit of harmony." she said.