These foreign spouses have been studying Chinese together and are enjoying themselves at their year-end party. (Lan Chun-hsiao)

According to the latest statistics from Taiwan's National Immigration Agency, by the end of October 2010 the total number of new immigrants to Taiwan had reached 441,314, of whom more than 64% were immigrant brides from China. Others were from mainly Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam (about 19%), Indonesia (6.1%), Thailand (2%), the Philippines (1.5%) and Cambodia (1%).

Marriage for these newcomers is the same as for everyone else: a mixture of the sweet and the not-so-sweet. The success of a marriage is influenced by many factors including how the couple met (whether by chance or through an agency), the strength of the couple's relationship and their relationship with other family members, and family economic conditions. However, one critical difference for these new -immigrants is that they have to suffer alone the emotions of missing their natal families during Chinese New Year, a symbolic time celebrating family reunion.

New Taipei City (formerly Taipei County) with a population of nearly 3,900,000, is not only the most populous municipality in Taiwan, but also has the largest community of new immigrants (at 81,357). Districts such as Ban-qiao, -Zhonghe and San-chong are prime choices for newcomers as there are many intensive small and medium-size manufacturing and service industries providing employment opportunities.

Sanchong District Administration organized a welcoming program called "Integrating New Residents." As the all-female group was graduating on December 24, 2010, they agreed a few weeks beforehand to bring some "hometown specialty" dishes to the class and celebrate Christmas, New Year and Chinese Lunar New Year, which were all approaching. A long table was filled with a rich variety of dishes from different countries including Vietnamese braised pork with coconut juice, Thai fried rice, Indonesian nyonya cakes, and Taiwanese rice balls and chicken soup with clams. The relaxing afternoon was a rare moment for this group of "foreign brides" because they are normally so busy at home.

Wenna Ari, a "pure" Indonesian from Bali, was the only one of the group without a Chinese heritage, and one of the few from Southeast Asia who married a Taiwanese man without the help of an introduction agency. She cooked soto ajam (chicken soup), a key dish for Indonesian New Year celebrations. The soup was made with turmeric, curry, lemongrass and a variety of other spices, with rice-flour noodles, bean sprouts and chili added only as it was served.