by Xinhua Writer Xia Xiao
DUBAI, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Four months into living in Dubai, homesickness has become a feeling I often have to wrestle with. And the Chinese New Year -- the season of family and reunion -- should have made it worse. Yet it didn't.
Also known as the Spring Festival, the most important holiday in China is when most Chinese feel the strongest pull toward home. But for me, thousands of miles away from my homeland, these few days have brought something I didn't expect: the feeling of home.
While winter still grips much of China, Dubai's midday sun bathes the streets lined with palms. Lanterns sway gently in the breeze, festive music fills the air, and amidst this lively scene, I feel a kind of quiet warmth I usually find at home.
On the calendar, this year's Chinese New Year fell on Feb. 17, but celebrations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) kicked off as early as January.
A friend of mine, Shi Bo, who has worked and lived in Dubai for years, shared his packed schedule with me: parades, performances, fireworks, and even a special equestrian show for the Year of the Horse.
"I've been running around so much lately. It feels like I have walked my legs off," he joked. The hustle and bustle, he told me, reminded him of the Spring Festival back home.
His experience mirrors that of the roughly 400,000 overseas Chinese living in the UAE, a major hub for overseas Chinese in the Middle East.
Since being inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2024, the Spring Festival has increasingly become a shared global celebration. In the UAE, that shift feels particularly tangible.
Across the Gulf state, celebrations unfold like a vibrant tapestry: dragon boat races, concerts fusing tradition with modern beats, and fireworks lighting up the desert sky. Earlier this month, nearly 10,000 locals and overseas Chinese gathered at Expo City Dubai for a Chinese New Year-themed parade, featuring the Dubai Police's mounted honor guard, glowing floats, robot dances, traditional performances, and over 60 festive market stalls.
Beyond large-scale events, there's a more intimate presence of Chinese elements and atmosphere. In Wenchao stores, also known as WeMart, a Chinese supermarket chain across the UAE, the aisles are filled with authentic Chinese decorations, snacks, and sweets, which could instantly take any Chinese customer back to childhood memories.
"If I don't visit Wenchao before the Spring Festival, it never really feels like the New Year has started," Shi said.
To preserve this "taste of the Spring Festival," Sun Jiansheng, chairman of Wenchao Group, said preparations began in September. "We want overseas Chinese to buy authentic New Year goods from home," he said.
Nowadays, the festive spirit reaches far beyond the Chinese community. At local seafood and meat markets popular with Chinese shoppers, local vendors often greet customers in Mandarin. Here, festive traditions and commerce blend seamlessly, with each enhancing the other.
Dubai International Airport has also embraced the celebration with festive red decorations. Salim Dahman, senior marketing manager at Dubai Duty Free, said this year's Spring Festival coincided with the beginning of Ramadan, which is a great symbol of "cultural fusion and exchange."
At universities throughout the UAE, students and faculty also engage in Chinese New Year traditions through various themed activities, transforming what could be surface-level celebrations into genuine cultural exchanges.
"Experiencing the Spring Festival in such an immersive way is truly meaningful," said Fatima Murad, a staff member at Fujairah University. "It's more than a foreign New Year. It's about family, friendship, and shared values, connecting people across cultures and revealing the depth of Chinese traditions."
Celebrations in the UAE highlight the strong foundation and positive momentum of UAE-China relations, said Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, UAE ambassador to China, emphasizing that cultural exchange fosters mutual understanding and recognition, and brings people's hearts closer together.
Indeed, as I look around at the growing presence of Chinese elements, the increasing number of Chinese faces, and the warmth and kindness from the locals, I realize that I am not that far from home.
Homesickness, I've learned, cannot be cured by distance, but can be eased by finding pieces of home in unexpected places. ■
