What happens when Gen Zers from China and France swap stories about their favorite holidays? A vibrant conversation about family, food, and cultural connections 🥟✨. During this year’s Spring Festival celebrations, cultural enthusiast Sherry Zhang sat down with Paris-based students Nico Demeure and Yves Baillod to explore shared values between Lunar New Year traditions and French holiday customs.
🔹 \"Spring Festival feels like a mix of Christmas and New Year’s Eve for us,\" Baillod observed. \"The red decorations remind me of Parisian holiday lights, and the family reunions… c’est magnifique!\" Demeure compared the Chinese tradition of hongbao to French étrennes – New Year’s monetary gifts still popular in some regions.
Zhang laughed while sharing how French friends initially mistook nian gao (sticky rice cake) for \"crème brûlée’s Asian cousin.\" The trio agreed that young people globally are blending traditions – think TikTok videos of lion dances soundtracked by French hip-hop 🦁🎶.
As cross-cultural exchanges between the two nations intensify, such dialogues highlight what one participant called \"the real magic of globalization – finding home in someone else’s traditions.\"
