The Racine's in China: China

Today we went to wedding number 2!

First let me start with Cultural Differences/Frustrations 101: When a couple gets engaged in China, the man does not give the woman a diamond ring (don't get all excited guys). On the wedding day, the man gives his bride his grandmother's wedding ring, and the bride gives the groom her grandmother's wedding ring. This is to unite the families. The groom is expected to give his bride a diamond on this day (see guys - a diamond is still a woman's best friend - even here!) Richard (our driver) wears a ring on his middle finger, so I asked him if that is his wedding ring and he told me that was for the engagement. I am not sure if that is customary. Wedding rings are worn on the left ring finger here also. He does not wear his wedding ring, neither does his wife. They say that it is too sentimental and they don't want to loose it, they only wear it for special occasions or visiting the grandmothers. I also noticed at the wedding that the bride wears the diamond on the right hand, not with the wedding band.

The wedding started at 4:30 (or at least that is what the invitation said - the one thing about China, they have amazing patience and don't rush for anything!) They had a nice Hors d'oeuvres area of fruit and sweets. The place had a nice garden area and pool area, so we sat outside for a while while we waited for the bride and groom.

Qing, Randy and John

Julie, in pink, (bride from previous wedding), Ruby and Carrie

As I mentioned for the last wedding, the bride and groom have their picture taken with each guest. They did this outside. I also noticed that the guests were a little better dressed for this wedding.

Left to right - Victor, Randy, Qing, Carrie, Julie, Annalisa, her new husband, Ruby, Isabelle, Thanapong, John

Us with the bride and groom

After having our pictures taken, we moved inside to the reception area.

The wedding cake is to the right.
It is normal to have a screen up showing pictures. At this wedding they were showing pictures
of an earlier "church" ceremony. They also threw the bouquet at the earlier ceremony.
We did not attend the earlier ceremony.

A picture of the reception area. It was very nice - almost like a cavern

I remembered to take pictures of all the food at this wedding. Randy and I had to laugh because the waiter brought us a fork and knife. The only people at the wedding to get them! Were they trying to tell us something? For some reason I did struggle with the chopsticks tonight, but I did not give up. By the middle of the meal I was doing just fine. You will notice that the food is placed on a glass lazy susan and it turns, you use your chopsticks to put a bite onto your plate, or eat it directly.

The menu, notice the number of items (each line)

Fish (to the left are the heads - two fish). It was quite tasty! The green dish
is a green sprout, then there is a dish of cut up chicken (they cut through
the bone and all)

Oysters (I think), Shrimp, a type of pea pods (but very "furry")

The front is pumpkin, cooked. It was a little sweet,
Next is pork, and in the back is tofu and a type
of vegetable.

Black beans. I didn't think I would like these, but they
were sweet. I like the design on the plate made
with a sauce.

A liqueur bottle on the table, not sure if you can read it,
it says "Shanghai Hi story" (it is separated on the bottle)

Not an expert on shell fish, so these are maybe oysters

Shark fin soup. Very good, but I have seen this on menus at restaurants -
very expensive. We each got our own bowl of this.

Lobster.

Ribs in a type of BBQ sauce, but not US BBQ sauce, Asian. Was good
but it had fat and all, so had to work around that.

Duck

Beef with a cabbage

This is Sea Cucumber. Google it if you do not know what it is. This is the
only thing I didn't eat. I have tried it before and I just can't eat it!

A type of cabbage with bacon on top

Whole fish. Everyone at the table went for the head first.

Pasta with vegetables and a shell fish. Very good.

Chicken soup (with leg and pieces in the soup). Clear broth type Soup always comes
out towards the end of the meal. This one is served family style.

That is not a shot. It is a jelly type dessert with a mushroom in it.
You do "drink" it, but it is not really a liquid. It is sweet. It was interesting
and good.

All meals end with fruit. They also had small desserts. And
of course they cut up the cake. What they do with the cake
is they cut a chunk and place it in the center of the table and
people help themselves like all the other food.

The bride only had 3 dresses. She wore one wedding gown for pictures and the ceremony, then she changed into a purple dress. The second dress of the night is the bride's choice of color. Both brides chose purple! The last dress is always red.

This wedding had a Hollywood theme. Before the ceremony, they showed movie clips that narrated the story of the couple. Unfortunately I was unable to understand it, but the people laughed during it so I guess it was meant to be funny.