It is cold in Michigan. It's hard to imagine how people get along with their lives when it's 20 below zero. If you can picture a stack of frozen foods in the freezer, then you have a good idea of what winter here is like for us here. Now don't shake your head-it's only that cold outside, and we don't spend much of our time struggling with the freezing air outside. When we go out we put on clothes like you might have seen in that ancient TV series, "Long Winters on the Mountain." Our whole bodies are sealed from the wind, wrapped up tight so that you can make it through the cold. With these clothes on, everyone looks the same, no matter if you're fat or thin. There are more than enough opportunities for everyone to light up a fire, or sit together around a warm stove, for a pleasant atmosphere. Only the outside bitter cold doesn't make it feel like New Years' back home.

I received an invitation from a friend a number of years ago to go to a Chinese New Year's party at a Chinese school. I could hear the drums beating far away in the parking lot, the snow falling all around. I left China 15 years ago, and this was the first time I had heard these drums beating in the small town of this new land. It was like a dream, and I didn't dare believe it was true. I stood there for a moment, and kept doubting whether this sound, so deep within my memory, was only a dream, or was it real? The sound of drums grew more urgent, and seemed to come closer. I could feel each strike of the drums on my chest, and couldn't distinguish the drum beats from my own heartbeats. I only knew that my legs felt light, and followed their own orders, bringing me to the auditorium. I saw drummers, a dancing dragon, and dancing lions. They were all children. The little boys and girls all were dressed in black, with wide red belts tied around the waist. They were giving their all in their performances. In that instant, I was back to my childhood, seeing Chinese sausages and salted meat, hearing the loud beating drums, and seeing dancing lions, bringers of prosperity. The sights and feelings of New Year came over me in an instant.

I hadn't heard those drums in a long time, sounds that brought back childhood memories. These children all grew up abroad, and the spirit with which they participated was moving. The performance that day was truly our own. All of this came together to make me feel as weak as I had ever felt. I stood there for a long time, letting the vibrations of the drums roll over my body and comfort my out-of-step heart.

I had once been baptized in this tradition, but it seems further and further away now. The feeling of a having a mission to let the younger overseas-born generation carry on traditions took me by surprise after leaving my home, my land. This mission is now a responsibility that rests on my shoulders. The first generation of immigrants work hard to advance, and retain a strong sense of responsibility towards history and tradition. After moving to a new land and putting down roots, if certain things are not consciously maintained, then the connections will be easily broken, and the next generation won't receive their spiritual nourishment from China. They will instead be awash in the flood of Western culture.

In the cold, harsh winters of Michigan, there are still Chinese celebrating the old festival of Chinese New Year with noise and excitement. Children are anxious with anticipation to receive a "Red Packet" with Their yearly gift, and can't wait to hang up the New Year scrolls. I hurry to take the Chinese character for "spring" and turn it upside down (the word for "turn upside down" in Chinese is pronounced the same as the word for "arrive," so an upside-down "spring" character symbolizes the arrival of spring), so that passers by can say, as if invoking a spell, "Spring has arrived." Maybe some warm days will come to us a little earlier.

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Overseas Chinese feel that only celebrations of the lunar new year are invested with a Chinese flavor. The photo shows everyone who helped to put on the lion dance.

The performance of lion dancing and dragon dancing by the young students of the Chinese school was the highlight of the evening's celebrations.

The performance of lion dancing and dragon dancing by the young students of the Chinese school was the highlight of the evening's celebrations.