Every year when Chinese Valentine’s – aka 七夕 (Qīxì) Festival – rolls around, English-language WeChat accounts publish long articles about the holiday’s origins using the same, boring graphics of a boy and a girl in front of a moon on a bridge of birds. Click here if you really want to learn the story behind QiXi.
This year, instead of retelling the myth, Jingkids is sharing some epic real-life love stories.
We’re starting off the week with the stunning new mom Evelyn Figueroa and Oliver Rosenthal, a Mexican-German couple who now call Beijing home along with their 7-month-old baby girl Eline.
Forget Antonio Banderas and Johnny Depp. This is what really happened once upon a time in Mexico…
Evelyn on how they met: “Oliver started working for BMW and went to Mexico for the first time to do a professional internship. A mutual friend introduced us in Mexico City. We only saw each other once and became friends on Facebook, but we didn’t talk at all and each of us continued with our lives.
Ten years later Oliver returned to Mexico, this time as an expat for three years. He sent me a message through social media asking if we could meet. At that time I was working outside of Mexico City in government in a very demanding position with little free time so I invited him to a regional fair, of which I was in charge.
I never thought he would come but he did. And there he was, the only person out of 20,000 people wearing a suit.
I couldn’t even remember what he was like but he certainly stood out from the audience. So I brought him on stage, he had his first real Mexican band concert and we had our first date. Since that day we became inseparable. Despite the distance and complicated schedules, we took time to travel, to be together, and to get to know each other.”
Love is simple, and yet oh so complicated. Disney raised us to believe that girls need to be saved, but in real life, relationships last, and love grows stronger over time because of both partners’ admiration, support, and respect for one another.
We asked the couple the hard question. When did you know you’d found the one?
“Many times Evelyn had to work unusual hours, many times on the weekends, very early or late,” explains Oliver. “She had last-minute calls and had to leave but at the same time I had the opportunity to be by her side at official events, learning more about her culture and supporting her professional career, in the same way, that she supported me.”
Actions speak louder than words, and that’s how Evelyn knew she’d found her other half. “I knew that Oliver was the one because he broke the mold for me. He was a completely different type of man than the kind I had previously dated. He had the courage to go to unknown places – without knowing the language, the culture. He was a pillar for me in a very important stage in my life, in an authentic way, and like he said, it felt right.”
For Evelyn, the most romantic gesture from Oliver was their engagement. “We were in an incredible resort in the middle of the jungle in Costa Rica with volcanic waters. By coincidence, the place was called Fortuna, the name of his favorite football club. The view, the place could not be better. He organized a private dinner in a room with candles, roses, and a romantic guitarist with the songs that had left their mark on our relationship, from Metallica to Narcos. He was saying his words but he was too nervous and I was interrupting him. He asked and I muted myself for a moment and then of course I said yes. Two months later we got legally married and later we had a wonderful religious wedding with our families and friends from different countries.”
On the other hand, for Oliver, there isn’t just one thing that his wife’s done that’s romantic. It’s everything she’s done for him throughout their five-year relationship. “Evelyn did so many romantic things to me like a hot air balloon ride over the pyramids of Teotihuacan – that was something I always wanted to do, and it was amazing. Taking me on a sailing tour on my birthday and being part of a sailing regatta where we even won a trophy, took me swimming with dolphins, came to the last match of Fortuna, stormed the field and robbed part of the stadium grass, and so many little things which always show me her love for me. After all, she agreed to leave her country, her family, her life to start a family with me on the other side of the world here in China. This must be love!
The most romantic place in Beijing is our apartment, first of all because it is where we welcome our daughter. It also has a beautiful representative view of the city because it is where we have all the objects and memories of our moments together.”
And last, but certainly not least…
What do you love the most about the other?
Evelyn: I love his bravery and that he is ambitious like me. He has a good heart and is an excellent dad and caring husband. Most of all that, we have been and we are accomplices in fun, pain, and constant learning.
Oliver: Her intelligence, humor, and sexiness. Plus she’s fun to be around so there’s never a boring day. She loves me with all her heart, and she is a very passionate woman even though this sometimes means she goes through high states of emotions.
KEEP READING: Happy Qixi! Tying the Knot and the Lighter Side of Cross-Cultural Marriages
Images: Evelyn Figueroa
