He hopes that in the new year he could meet a nice girl, someone he could take home for next Spring Festival. "It is hard, you know, I haven't got the time to find one."
His colleague Chen Cunben's daughter painted a picture for her father as New Year gift. She called the picture "Waiting."
BEHIND BARS
For the first time Li Ming (not his real name) will hold his daughter.
"She was born two months after I started my prison term," he said. He was sent to Qianchuan penitentiary in east China's Anhui province in October 2014 for violent crimes.
Before the Spring Festival, the prison organized its own festival party, and allowed six prisoners to meet their relatives.
"I feel sorry for my wife and daughter," Li said, fighting back tears. "I will take good care of them when I get out."
Those who couldn't meet their loved ones choose to write to them.
"I am good in here, and I have learned new skills," Zhang Wei (not his real name) wrote to his mother, the first time he has contacted her in four years.
"During the holidays prisoners are likely to become emotional," said Chen Mingfu, vice head of the prison. "With all the activities we could not only help them through this difficult time, but also give them a lesson."
WAITING
A handful of leeks, several potatoes and some meat are all the old couple will have for dinner on the eve of Spring Festival. Their children will not be back for the holiday.
"They are all married and not wealthy, and they live far from me," said Feng Jinhua, the wife.
They live in Xiatan Village, Zhongwei, Ningxia. It used to be a thriving dock, bustling with travellers. After a railway was built nearby, the dock was abandoned, and so, too, was the village.
Today only 30 households are left, mostly elderly couples.
But even that obscure place could see improvement of life.
In 2006 cables were set up so that villagers were able to use electricity, in 2013, they had a road to the outside. Tourists began to arrive.
"It would be good if the government could attract more tourists," said Feng. "After 20 or 30 years, when we are gone, the village could be preserved as a cultural icon."
