Jay, Slovak-Canadian, is celebrating his sixth Spring Festival in Hainan. He headed into the kitchen to learn Nian Ji — choosing the chicken, three dips, simmering, mixing the sauce — and fried Nian Gao until golden, sweet for a sweet life. He noted that “chicken sounds like auspicious,” learned to say “Wenchang chicken” in Hainanese, and grinned: Now I can say I'm a local. Six years in, he's picked up the traditions.