Of course there is no distinction of different kinds of cultures. I'm not going to think that the love story between the ancient beauty Xi'shi and the scholar Fan'li in old China is more touching than the one of Helen and Paris in ancient Greek. Neither am I going to disagree with the western people who believe in Jesus because I have been growing up in an atmosphere of Confucius.

Nor will I deny the delicious taste of French lobster or Japanese sashimi, although I love the Hunan and Sichuan cuisine best. But I stand by what I love -- because they are deeply rooted in my mind.

Like many overseas youngsters struggling in the States, I also often hover in the car park, imagining that how cool it would be if I were driving a Porsche. In some sleepless nights, I would go to the BMW's website to go through the prices, calculating that if I have an annual salary of X00k, then a few years later I can have a BMW. But on second thoughts, will I feel much happier even if I own the BMW, Porsche, and big villa after a decade or two? So what?

In my eyes, happiness is to live with my loved one, to recall together the bits and pieces of the past, and to look forward to our future. Happiness is to be wakened up in the morning by the small children, and they plead with me to tell them the story of "The Orphan of Zhao" in the kingdom of Jin. We always have a lot to talk about - perhaps one day he will tell me that the knight Linghu Chong in his eyes is different from what I told him.

Never have to make effort to explain to him what the saying "Speak of the devil and he shall appear" means. Happiness is that I will be able to share with them my experiences of frustration, stress, regret, and passion when they meet the similar problems and teach them to cherish life and to be thanksgiving. Happiness is to have my loved one to be accompanied with when we are getting older, and to see the young generations to endeavor to achieve their dreams.

To me, these are the reasons for returning, and the source of love.

Perhaps one day, these beliefs will be shattered in front of the reality. We'll have to continue our wandering abroad due to the unaffordable domestic house prices. We may slow down our pace of returning because of the more favorable conditions for scientific research outside. We may be frightened back by the poisonous melamine in the dairy, and the hogwash oil in the cooking oil market, etc. However, all these won't stop our love to the homeland.

The love will not cease at the end of time.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and don't represent views of China Daily website. You can read the original story and comments here: Homeland, the reason for love

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