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Some might
think it’s the year of the dragon, but let me tell you, this has been the year
of the wedding in China.
Yesterday,
we went to our third nuptial ceremony, that being the union of Chen and Rose.
Chen was
the first Chinese friend that Jeff made. His English name is Stanley by the way. They met at the pool in the locker
room where Chen instantly realized Jeff wasn’t Chinese.
I’ll leave
it at that.
We were
sort of guests of honor for Chen and Rose, and got to take a day off from
school to be a part of the ceremony.
Having
Westerners at your wedding is a sign of status in China. The mother of the
bride bought me a special dress for the occasion called a cheongsam.
I actually
found a pair of dress shoes in china that fit, which means, there is a God. Actually, they did fit due to the help of a highly motivated sales lady who poked extra holes in the sling back straps.
Chen’s
parents flew down from Harbin for this event. Chen is the spittin’ image of his
dad.
His Mom wore
red, too.
Now the wedding
ceremony started at 9 am (that wasn’t a typo) where the groom searched around the
couple’s new apartment for red envelopes. Red envelopes are the traditional wedding gift in China,
where guests fill them with a lucky amount.
We were
told 666 RMB is considered very lucky in China, the “666” meaning smooth
sailing, unlike in America where it means the mark of the beast.
Gee, hope whoever told us that wasn’t messing with us!
Giving 888 RMB
signifies prosperity, but to others, that amount would mean “greed”.
After Chen
found a good number of envelopes, he had tea with the mother of the bride.
Then, we
got to cruise around Kunming in a car like this.
We headed
to Lake Haigan to take pictures. And let me tell
you, there were a lot of pictures.
First, there was the two groom shot….
Then the “honey, will you put the camer down” shot…
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And the classic, “You’re posing for the wrong camera” shot…
Even the bride needed a break.
After
pictures, we loaded back into the limos and headed to a wedding hall.
The people watching was great, especially the children. THey don’t have to wear itchy clothes to weddings like they do in America.
Seven
couples were celebrating their big day that day, each waiting out front for
guests to sign their guest books.
It reminded
you of a game show of sorts, where each couple was trying to outdo the other
with gowns and guests.
Well, when
the měi guó réns signed Chen and Rose’s guest book, the game was over. They won
the grand prize show case.
Guests were
given red chopsticks, assorted nuts, candies, and cigarettes.
And oh yes,
sunflower seeds.
Either sunflower seeds have a lucky meaning, or the wedding planner was a parakeet in a past life.
The wedding
continued with tons of food, so much, that the lazy susan almost had a nervous
breakdown. The menu included turtle, duck livers, sweet mushrooms in sticky syrup
and lotus root. That was just the stuff we recognized.
It was all
chased by a traditional shot of wedding white wine Wuliangye , also known as turpentine.
We got rid
of the weird tastes in our mouth by chewing a piece of Wrigley’s cucumber gum.
The bride changed
into a red dress for the toasts.
After the
reception, the guests went to a KTV
establishement, or Chinese karaoke. After that, the fun continued in the bridal
chamber, where young guests play tricks on the new couple.
It was cool learning about chinese wedding traditions. They go beyond something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.
Something lucky, something red, thimble shots to clear your head.
It was a big honor to be a part of the ceremony and to get to wear a cheongsam.