China News Service Suzhou, October 4 (by wire) Title: Taiwan Green hairdresser Chen Xiaowen's "No.1" collection in mainland China
China News Service Reporter Zhong Sheng
The first batch of Taiwanese hairdressers in Suzhou, participants in the first collective marriage certification ceremony for newlyweds across the Taiwan Straits, the first batch of Taiwan compatriots invited to attend the Suzhou Municipal People's Congress, and the first Taiwan compatriots in Suzhou to receive a residence permit for Taiwan residents... For Chen Xiaowen, a Taiwanese youth, many "firsts" constitute her precious memory in the mainland for more than 20 years.
According to Chen Xiaowen, her grandparents are from Suzhou. The elders loved to tell her stories of Suzhou in Wu Nong's soft language when they were young, taught her to recite the description of Suzhou's "Night Mooring on Maple Bridge", and pointed to various Suzhou themed calligraphy and paintings at home to tell her: "This is our home".
In 2002, after graduating from school, Chen Xiaowen came to Suzhou with the idea of giving it a try and became one of the first Taiwanese hairdressers. When he first arrived in Suzhou, Chen Xiaowen did not adapt to the local climate and had no friends. In order to save money, he only returned to Taiwan to visit his parents during the Spring Festival. But she insists on practicing her hairdressing skills in the mainland.
In the first beauty and hairdressing professional skills contest in Suzhou, Chen Xiaowen, as the only Taiwanese contestant, won the bronze medal. This experience has greatly strengthened her confidence in staying on the mainland for development. Now Chen Xiaowen has become the first Taiwanese vice president of Suzhou Beauty Industry Association.
On Children's Day, Chen Xiaowen (the first from the left) and his family set out to make Taiwan eggs in his daughter's kindergarten. China News Service Photographed by reporter Zhong Sheng
Love also supports Chen Xiaowen. Shortly after arriving in Suzhou, Chen Xiaowen met Cai Heling, a young man from Suzhou. She recalled: "At the beginning, I always felt that there was still some estrangement between Taiwan and Suzhou. Unexpectedly, we talked like this for nine years and finally got married." In 2014, the couple together attended the first collective marriage certification ceremony for newlyweds across the Taiwan Straits.
Now, Chen Xiaowen and Cai Heling have a pair of lovely children, and their parents also choose to settle in Suzhou. The family is happy in the mainland.
In 2018, Chen Xiaowen became the first Taiwan compatriot in Suzhou to receive a residence permit for Taiwan residents; In 2019, Chen Xiaowen, as one of the first Taiwan compatriots, was invited to attend the Third Session of the Sixteenth National People's Congress of Suzhou as a nonvoting delegate... Chen Xiaowen's sense of belonging to the mainland became stronger and stronger after he tasted the "first soup" that Taiwan compatriots enjoyed the same treatment.
Around the Spring Festival this year, cooking tea around the stove is popular in the mainland. Chen Xiaowen (right) often invites relatives and friends on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to deepen the friendship in the aroma of tea. China News Service Photographed by reporter Zhong Sheng
Suzhou is one of the cities with the most active investment from Taiwan businessmen on the mainland, the most intensive Taiwan funded enterprises and the closest economic, trade and cultural exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits. At present, nearly 150000 Taiwan compatriots live and work in Suzhou, from which more than 4000 cross Strait marriages and families have been born.
In 2019, Suzhou Cross Strait Marriage and Family Association was established, with Chen Xiaowen as the first vice president. She said that the Association often preaches and provides assistance on policies related to the enrollment, education and medical care of Taiwanese children, and organizes various parent-child activities.
Chen Xiaowen did not slack off in his own work. Under her careful organization, the first cross-strait image beauty art invitational contest in Suzhou started in 2019 and has been held ever since. Nearly 100 guests, judges and contestants from the island participated.
Chen Xiaowen said that Taiwan and Qingdao have unlimited possibilities in the mainland, and he is full of expectations about what kind of "first" they will experience in the mainland in the future.
