Alina, from Belarus, spent her second Spring Festival in Hainan.

She followed singing into Haikou’s Qilou Historical and Cultural Quarter and was invited by local grandmothers to make dumplings — learning on the spot, earning a perfect score. She thought of her late grandparents: “Being with these grandmothers today felt so warm.”

That afternoon, she learned to fold dumplings and paste Fu characters. She summed up Chinese New Year in three words: family, joy, good food — and said she’d recommend every foreign friend to experience it.

No spectacle, just low stools under Qilou arcades and hands dusted with flour. Her second Spring Festival in Hainan. Her most special one yet.