Disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, during the Lantern Festival in 2022, Yang Yalun failed to return to Taiwan again. This is his third consecutive year celebrating the Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival in Pingtan. Pingtan is an island city off the coast of Fujian Province and the closest place on the Chinese mainland to the island of Taiwan.

Yang Yalun is considered a regular in local competitions and has trained many players in Pingtan. [Photo courtesy of the interviewee]

"Although I can't celebrate the festival with my family, I’ll make sure I enjoy myself on the mainland.” Yang plans to go to temple fairs, guess lantern riddles, and feast on local food – “Lucky Dumpling” with friends.

Born after the 1990s, Yang Yalun is working as a baseball coach. This year is his eighth year on the mainland. In 2014, Yang graduated from a university in Taiwan with a mechanical major. After reaching Pingtan for the first time aboard the "Haixia," a high speed ro/ro ferry shuttling between Pingtan and Taiwan, he was charmed by the coastal scenery of Pingtan.

Yang Yalun is considered a regular in local competitions and has trained many players in Pingtan. [Photo courtesy of the interviewee]

"I was greeted by a gush of pleasant wind as soon as I got off the boat. The sky was cobalt blue and the sea was crystal clear. It reminded me so much of Kenting in Taiwan," Yang recalled. Later, he started his first business in Pingtan. Because of his part-time job in a fried chicken shop during his school days, Yang decided to open a fried chicken restaurant in Pingtan. But the business didn't go well.

With a twist of fate, Yang became the baseball coach of a club in Pingtan. As an avid baseball fan, Yang Yalun has been watching baseball games with his father since he was a child, and he often plays baseball with his brother and classmates. Yang had represented his school on different occasions and won several games. Out of his passion for the sport and this island, Yang started his baseball dream in Pingtan. He got a baseball coach certificate, baseball referee certificate, and other professional certificates on the mainland.

During this period, he pocketed a number of honors, including the first place in the "Second Pingtan Cross-Straits Invitational ‘Four-way Cup,’" the second place in the "Cross-Straits Common Homeland Cup," and the first place in the "'BRI’ Fuzhou Division of National T-ball Competition."

Today, Pingtan’s baseball is thriving from scratch. Yang Yalun is a witness and promoter of Pingtan’s baseball.

Yang Yalun also often participated in Lantern Festival activities in Taiwan before. [Photo courtesy of the interviewee]

Speaking of the Lantern Festival, Yang said that the celebration is much grander in Taiwan compared to other places. There are plenty of lanterns. People make lanterns, jot down their wishes, eat Tangyuan, a glutinous rice ball, and guess lantern riddles. It's a blast.

Talking about the difference between the cross-Straits the lantern festival, Yang Yalun said that there is not much difference, and the atmospheres on both sides are strong.

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[Source: The Paper]