Ryan and Righ like to compare their relationship to a Shakespearean drama. The two met when Righ, originally from China, visited Ryan’s Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung in 2016. A brief conversation next to the city’s “Love River” soon developed into a romance that defied the long-running cross-strait tensions between their homes. Although Righ returned to the Chinese capital of Beijing, and Ryan, who runs a guesthouse, stayed in Taiwan, the couple entered a long-distance relationship for years before deciding they wanted to get married. “Like Romeo and Juliet, we hoped for a happy ending,” Ryan says. “Their love had many obstacles, but if it’s meant to be, nothing can stop it.”