Buenos Aires, 13 Feb (Xinhua) -- From Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, to his hometown of Fuqing, Fujian Province, China, Xue Wenqiang, president of the Argentine Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Chinese, is about to complete a "furthest trip." China and Argentina are separated by more than 20,000 kilometers, but no matter how long the distance is, it is difficult to stop Chinese want to go home for the New Year.
Fly 2 and a half hours to São Paulo, then 16 hours to Doha, continue to fly for 8 hours to Guangzhou, fly another 1 and a half hours to Fuzhou, and finally take a few hours by car to get home, Xue Wenqiang's way home takes at least two days and two nights.
It doesn't feel hard to be able to go home any further. After coming to Argentina for 12 years without returning home, Xue Wenqiang knew the taste of homesickness best. In November 1999, Xue Wenqiang and his wife came to Argentina, worked as a decorator, helped in supermarkets, and experienced business failures... In those years, a ticket home was a distant dream for them.
Xue Wenqiang admitted that in the first few years of arriving in Argentina, "the New Year is the saddest time." He also clearly remembers eating beef soup with bread at his first year of "Chinese New Year's Eve Rice" in Argentina, and then going to the supermarket to help with tally after eating.
At that time, network communication was not yet developed, and I was reluctant to make long-distance calls, and every time a friend came from China, the peanut rice and sweet potato strips brought by his parents from his hometown always made Xue Wenqiang cry.
Argentina suffered a severe economic crisis in 2001. "I didn't dare tell my family, but my parents already knew everything about the news," Xue Wenqiang said, "and my brothers and sisters later told me that my parents were worried about us every day." The old father told me that as long as people are safe, no matter how serious the damage, they can start all over again. ”
After working hard overseas for more than ten years, Xue Wenqiang's business is getting better and better, and he has several large-scale wholesale supermarkets in the eleventh district of Buenos Aires, and the types of import and export commodities are also increasing. "Later, every Spring Festival got better and better, and going home for the New Year also became the driving force for my struggle."
Being abroad and unable to serve his parents, Xue Wenqiang's "once a year" trip home since 2011 has always been full of guilt. "I used to say I was going to invite them to Argentina and they always shook their heads and said 'motion sickness'. Now that they are all over 80, they can no longer toss like this. ”
About a month before returning home, Xue Wenqiang began to prepare gifts for his family and friends. Propolis, rose essential oil, olive oil, milk powder... Xue Wenqiang's suitcase was stuffed with Argentine specialties. "Now there is no shortage of anything in China, and these are some of our intentions overseas."
Although he went home for the New Year, Xue Wenqiang still decorated his supermarket in Argentina with joy. "Cleaning and dusting, putting on lights, Chinese customs cannot be changed anywhere."
Xue Wenqiang said that the number of Chinese in Argentina is increasing, and even if they don't go home for the New Year, they won't be so deserted. Argentina's Spring Festival atmosphere is also getting stronger, buenos Aires' Chinese New Year temple fair attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year, and the Spring Festival is no longer just a festival for the Chinese community.
Another feeling xue Wenqiang has about returning home for the New Year is the change in China. There is a high-speed railway near my hometown, and the buildings in the village are getting more and more beautiful, and even the old mother will use WeChat videos... "Being overseas, I am even more proud of China's rapid development." ”
Before leaving, Xue Wenqiang said goodbye to his friends in Argentina. Eating Argentine beef and vegetable salad, Xue Wenqiang raised a glass to everyone to worship an early year, "Now the conditions are good, it doesn't matter if you can't go back to the New Year, you can go back whenever you want."
For the 180,000 Chinese in Argentina, Sino-Arab relations are now developing rapidly, exchanges in all aspects are becoming more and more frequent, and China is so far away and so close.