Foreign daughter-in-law enjoys Spring Festival with her new family in South China

Updated: 2017-02-06 13:20

By Jessica Ward(chinadaily.com.cn)

Jessica shows off oysters caught at her husband's hometown in Zhanjiang city, South China's Guangdong province. [Photo provided by Jessica to chinadaily.com.cn]

The first day of the new year, my husband and I will go to his hometown's local temple to pray for a prosperous new year. Next, we'll travel to his ancestor's old home to pray again as well, followed by hanging the red scrolls across the top of the door and on the sides. Throughout the week, there will be large reunion dinners at different relatives' houses such as his maternal grandmother's house and cousin's home. Also, a large dinner is held here as well. More than 40 people attend every year. My husband comes from a big family. Fortunately, because of all the children in the family, we aren't pressured by any of the family to have kids.

As another Spring Festival comes to an end, we'll return to Beijing and get back to the daily grind. Before we left, we took some family photos. One photo involved my husband's grandparents, parents, brother and sister. As I stood off to the side and looked on, my husband extended his hand and said, "You're in the photo too." I said, "It's supposed to be just your family." He looked at me and said, "You are my family. We're a family." So, with that, my heart melted and I stood next to him as he held my waist for the photo.