Editor’s note: the GDToday team spent a day with several expats who are working and living in different cities of Guangdong and present how they are preparing for the Chinese New Year despite of the back-and-forth Covid-19 pandemic through the ‘My Chinese New Year Style’ series.

Writing down the training data of the day, Matthew Giddings has just finished several jumping sessions with his trainees. Working as a skydiving instructor in Luoding County, Yunfu of Guangdong Province, Matthew thought he found a nice place for himself. “I enjoy walking around the town and everybody's pretty happy. Ultimately like we've got a great drop zone, we've got a nice plane. I like skydiving every day. So here is a really good fit for me.” he said.

“Skydiving is always been quite fulfilling for me”

Matthew was born in Britain and moved to Australia when he was 19. In 2013, he was first introduced to skydiving in Sydney. Speaking of the reason why he decided to quit his previous job and choose to pursue the sport, he said: “I think it's a sense of freedom. Especially my personal story is that I've gotten stuck in the grind, a little bit of going to work and just coming home, going to work. Skydiving has just always been quite fulfilling for me. The thing with sky diving is wherever you're at in the journey along the way. There's always something more to learn.”

In 2019, after being recommended by a friend of his, he joined “Yingfei Skydiving” in Luoding, Yunfu, and works as a Tandem master and Accelerated free fall (AFF) instructor. Matthew reflects on his job all the time, “The hardest thing to teach people is you go from always seeking information and asking questions to then when you start jumping with students, especially where they're looking to you for the answers.”

“I feel Chinese New Year is more about looking forward to the future”

Through the sports, Matthew met a lot of Chinese. “Chinese people really enjoy skydiving. When I worked in Australia, big percentage of the people that did Tandem were Chinese too, and including our students. I think a lot of Chinese people enjoy getting a cool video and getting to do something new.” he said. Having lived in Luoding for over 1 year, Matthew is gradually integrating and adapting to the local community, “I am still working hard on it. As I understand more Chinese, it's easier to go around the town. I do enjoy going to the little shops and finding bits and pieces of things.”

As the Chinese New Year is around the corner, Matthew bought some decorations to adorn the skydiving base with his friends. He is looking forward to the coming festival, “I'm quite happy to stay in Luoding and enjoy the Chinese culture. I like the feeling of Chinese New Year. I feel like the festival is more about trying to spend time with your family and appreciate the things in your life.”

Looking back to 2020, Matthew feels that it was a challenging year, and the COVID-19 pandemic made it hard for him to see his family. “I went back to the UK for a little while. It was nice to go home, but I kind of wish I'd stayed in China. I'm glad that I'm back. Because I feel like it's where I want to be. China is being very proactive about trying to get everything back to normal and getting people back to work. We're lucky in Luoding. We haven't really had any COVID here.”

For Matthew, Chinese New Year means to forget the past, pack up and look forward to the future. "For the new year, I hope everything will be progressing, everybody keeps improving and safe", he sent his wishes for the coming year.

Co-produced by GDToday and Southern Metropolis Daily

Reporter|Catherine Zhang, Jiang Wanru, Lin Yaohua, Russell Hou (Intern)

Video Editting|Jiang Wanru

Photos|Jiang Wanru, Lin Yaohua

Editor|Jerry Grey