Change of plans: Kang Shi and his family remain in France and send blessings to their relatives in China through a video chat. [Photo/Jilin Radio and TV Station]

After 20 years of life in France, a dish of steaming stewed goose on Chinese New Year's Eve will always be the lasting taste of Chinese New Year in the memory of Kang Shi, who was born and raised in Northeast China's Jilin province.

So, he dearly wanted to bring his family back again to China for the last holiday – after a great break there the previous year – but it was not to be.

Kang's hometown is Meihekou city in Jilin province. He left home to study and start a business in France 20 years ago and in recent years he's been operating a restaurant in the city of Lyon.

His eldest daughter Tongtong is seven years old and younger daughter Guoguo is four years old. Until last year, they had never set foot in their motherland.

During the 2020 Spring Festival, Kang Shi took his eldest daughter Tongtong to Jilin for the holiday break, while his wife took their younger daughter to her hometown of Fuzhou in East China's Fujian province.

In Meihekou, Kang enrolled his daughter in a short-term Chinese studies class. His daughter saw ice sculpture exhibitions and went to hot spring resorts with her grandparents.

During her stay in Meihekou, Tongtong was even speaking fluent Northeastern Mandarin.

Kang and his wife agreed that they would return to their hometown again during the 2021 Spring Festival, when they would let their two daughters change cities and experience the different cultures of North and South China.

However, their plans were thwarted by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Undaunted, the family rallied and improvised, to spend a great break in France. So, before the Spring Festival, Kang and his wife bought Chinese New Year's gifts for both their parents through Pinduoduo, a popular e-commerce platform in China.

In his apartment in Lyon, Kang and his two daughters put up Spring Festival couplets and practiced making jiaozi, or dumplings.