Chinese Wedding Menu

Wedding Food

The restaurants charge by the table. On our table, set for 8, we could choose from all the foods you see on the ‘lazy susan’. And at each place setting there was a milk box, bottle of water, a box of small hard candies, and a paper cup. The paper cup was for toasting the bride and groom and each other with beer or their nasty clear alcohol.  No wedding cake and all the red dishes were very, very spicy.

Pictured below is Cynthia's dad and his brother (I think).

Chinese Wedding Attire

Photos
No problem with seeing the bridal gown before the wedding because all the photos are taken before. The bride and groom spend one or two weekends dressing up in many different outfits and going to various locations to take that perfect picture.  This photo was on display outside the hotel where the lunch was held.
 

Dressing For a Wedding
No shopping dilemmas for the MOB & MOG. Just wear whatever. Pictured are the parents of the bride and groom. At this wedding there were no bridesmaids and groomsmen – so no need to take the “Wedding Party” photos. The bride did change from her rented white dress to a traditional Chinese red dress for the toasting that the couple does at each table. 

Chinese Weddings

Understand that these vary as much as American weddings do, so this is just an example of one type of Chinese wedding from one part of the country. They have adopted some western traditions such as the white wedding dress and bouquets but have kept many Chinese customs such as the red dress, red envelopes and fireworks. Also this and the majority of all other Chinese weddings are really just a celebration because the couples have already signed the marriage papers at the local government office months prior. They usually save up money for the celebration part after they are legally married. 

Wedding Gifts

Easy for the gift giver – put money in the red envelope and give it to a trusted family member at the door. He records your name and the amount you gave. Sounds like his job is a lot more fun than getting stuck with doing the “guest book”.  The 'polite' amount should have a 6 or 8 in it (lucky numbers) 600 yuan or 800 yuan or 6000 yuan or 8000 yuan - you get the idea

Side Note – On the way to JangGangShan we saw a funeral – they were wearing white shirts over their clothes –and there were a bunch of bed comforters by the side of the road. Cynthia said that they give them to the family of the deceased. Funerals – so bedding gifts for funerals and money for weddings.

TIC

TIC (This Is China)- we say this a lot when things shock us - like cars driving on sidewalks - fireworks at 8 in the morning - etc...

This morning with NO prior warning from the office- I hear a noise in my kitchen - I go to investigate and ....surprise.....There is a guy hanging out my kitchen window scrapping something off the outside walls. Please remember I am 6 stories up and there are no locks on the windows. It is a good thing I haven’t taken my shower yet. I have a tendency to walk from the bathroom to the bedroom with very little on.

He is heading down so I warned Kate who is directly below me.  Julie, our local recluse and nudist on the 4^th floor, I didn't warn. (she gets real cranky when you wake her). Hopefully the scrapper won't have a big surprise when he gets there. There was another scrapper/patcher hanging by my bathroom window 3 hours later.  

New Favorite Street Snack

Think – Pita bread – but a little thinner. She rolls out the dough with some sugar in it then slaps it inside this big pot/oven. When it comes out it is a warm, crispy, and slightly sweet treat for 1 yuan (6.4 cents). Not as good as Dunker Donuts but still yummy.

Fireworks and Other Explosions

Kate and I went to see the fireworks last Saturday night. I found out that different fireworks companies take turns at running the show. You can even go onto a web site and vote for your display. This Saturday was a really good show – I would vote for this company…. if I could just read the web site.

As we left we ran into two unique Chinese peddlers: A cotton candy maker that runs off of bike power and a popcorn maker.  Kate got some cotton candy and it tasted normal- except no pretty colors. The popcorn maker is totally different from what you would expect. The guy spins this metal cylinder over a fire. When he removes it - he hits some lever and it explodes into a bag. Hot popcorn - no butter. Luckily last semester when Jason was here, he took photos of the popcorn maker so click on the link. The pictures are definitely way better than the 1000 words it would take for me to explain it correctly.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28398373@N07/sets/72157625497877237/

Rooftop Party

Last Friday night Meagan organized a NUDT foreign teacher party on our 18^th floor rooftop. In the picture you see most of our teachers – from left to right –Steve USA & Ling his girlfriend –Ranald UK - Meagan USA- Vincent USA- Amanda & Seth USA- Me – Tommy UK – Marian Australian – Andrew her husband took the picture.  It was hard getting a good fire going in the cheap grills but we ended up bringing up a George Foreman Grill to finish off the hamburgers. We all had a good time and got to know one another a little better. 

Notice the blue bag above Vincent’s head – we put it on one of the many, many cameras they have watching us. About 10 minutes after we put it up – the guards came up to “check up” on us – but they didn’t make us take it down. The 30 minutes later the big FAO boss (Mr. Li Gen) with a party of about 8 came up to “look around the new foreign teachers’ apartments” (yeah right – at 6:30 on a Friday night??). We offered him and the others some tequila jello shots. He had one but the rest of them refused. And yes, I was standing there cooking the chicken with the bottle of beer in my hands when they came up.