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Love conquers gap of cultures

By Lu Xiaofeng and Xu Wei | July 26, 2010, Monday | Print Edition

IN a tranquil garden in Anting New Town, which featured German-style architecture, beautiful lawns, a large beach umbrella and comfortable lounge chairs, Liu Meina, a native of Beijing, and her German husband Thorsten Niehues welcomed a Jiading news reporter.

Neihues, 33, clad casually in polo shirt and shorts, spoke lovingly of his family and his work as his little daughter Melina playing alongside him, trying to catch his attention. He stopped now and then to give her a gentle pat on the head and made her laugh with his funny faces.

The marriage of Liu and Niehues was born of destiny and coincidence, the couple said. It began in 2003 when Liu, then a new university graduate with a degree in German, decided to leave her hometown.

"Beijing is a big city, but I thought I should have a look around at the world outside the city," Liu recalled.

She was hired by a Sino-Austrian joint venture based in Danyang, Jiangsu Province, as an interpreter. Two years later, her wanderlust prompted her to apply for work in Shanghai, where she met Niehues.

He hails from Holdorf, a small city near the northern German port of Bremen. Before coming to Shanghai, he hardly traveled much at all. Then, in early 2006, his company decided to build a factory at Anting Town. Niehues was sent to help start up the business in China on a one-year contract. That seemed long enough at the time. Friends back home speculated he wouldn't even last a year in such a different culture.

They were right for the first two months. Niehues said he was homesick and eager to return to Germany. But soon he grew accustomed to his new life and gradually fell in love with Jiading, he said. Today only two of the original six colleagues who came with him to Shanghai are still here.

As a senior staff member of the Oldenburger Interior Products (Shanghai) Co, Niehues has devoted his work life to development of the company. The VIP lounge at the Germany Pavilion at the World Expo, the bar in the pavilion's dining room and several interior products of the US Pavilion are made by Oldenburger.

"China has given me a rare chance to start and pursue my own career," Niehues said with pride.

But it wasn't work that cinched his enduring relationship with China. Shortly after Spring Festival in 2008, he and several friends went to a pub on Changji Road. There he met Liu. He wasn't quite sure how to proceed. He wanted to get to know her better but didn't know Chinese customs of courtship. He finally summoned the courage to ask for her phone number. The somewhat shy Liu just gave him only her email address. A romance was born. Niehues sent her greetings every day, and whenever she didn't show up at the pub, he would email to ask if she was all right.

His concern and consideration moved Liu. One month later, she accepted his request to date, and the pair has never looked back. Six months later they were married. It was a brief courtship, Liu admitted. "After many years working and living far from home, I thought it was time to settle down and have a family," she said. Their daughter is now 18 months old and they are expecting a second child soon.

Football and beer are known to be favorites of the Germans, and Niehues says he is no exception. The day he sat down for this interview, Germany had just been eliminated from the 2010 World Cup. "What a pity!" he said. "Our team performed very well."

He and other expats living in Anting Town have formed their own football team, which plays regularly in local competitions.

"I used to be a good runner; but now I am fat, so goalkeeping seems to be the only position for me," Niehues said, pointing at his belly with a laugh.

Parents from both families have blessed this union.

"We had a very good chat when I saw his mother for the first time," Liu said. "I can speak German, and I know something about German culture. There is no communication boundary between us."

Although Niehues can't speak Chinese, his honesty and sincerity touched Liu's parents, who said they trust him to take good care of their daughter.

Jiading


 

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