I made this video right before I came to the US. By then I couldn't even hold my camera still. Despite all the shakiness and misfocusing, this video still makes me shed a drop of tear at some particular moments.

Stubbornly insisting on making dumplings and doing New Year calligraphies himself, my dad gave me 18 years of the most authentic traditional Chinese New Year experiences. For 18 years I've been witnessing this tradition fading through generations. Printed New Year strolls and mass-produced frozen dumplings are trending among workaholic young couples; dining at pricey restaurants replaces homemade 8-dish New Year's Eve feast. Few families make their own dumplings now.

My dad says that dumpling-making consists of too many childhood memories. Back in the old days when starvation haunted the entire country, dumplings were a luxury that the whole village could only afford to savor once a year. As a child, New Year's Eve was the one hope for an entire year's toilsome farming endeavor. The joy of biting into a dumpling filled with pork used to be priceless.

I told my dad that it's a good sign that this kind of joy is already a foregone past, for living conditions of this generation has significantly improved. My dad disagreed. He insisted on holding on to his traditions and sighed for the fact that one day there would be no one who'd remember how precious a dumpling used to be.