Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Chinese Wedding Reception

I went to my first Chinese wedding reception the other weekend. They had actually gotten married in their hometown (a 20 hour bus ride away) the week before. Now that they were back they had a celebration for friends/co-workers here. In some ways it was very different but in many it was similar.

For example if you look at this photo you will see one of the tables set up. At first glance it is normal - plates, napkins, chopsticks, etc. But on closer review you see 3-4 packs of cigarettes! Yep they give out cig's for everyone. This is made even more strange given that the bride is adamantly against smoking!



This next photo just shows the plethora of small shot glasses they had. Thankfully they were small by the way. In this goes a drink called Baijou. Sometimes called "white wine" but really it is a rice wine and it is very potent. Anywhere between 35-70 proof! Often tastes like kerosene! I was told that if the bride and groom didn't go home drunk then the guests did not do their job properly. Being the only foreigner at the party and also a boss to many of them meant that the goal of this night was to get 3 people drunk - bride, groom and ME! Everyone wanted to do shots with me! And they kept telling me it is good luck to do them in 2's. So 2 shots with many of them I had to do. Hopefully I can bring some of this fire water back to the US and share with some of you whom I know will love it!


This photo is of the bride and groom. While she is very dressed up in a traditional Chinese dress he wasn't really, just a short sleeved shirt and slacks. All the guests were very casual. Some wearing ball caps and t-shirts.
As you see below all I wore was a black shirt and shorts. And you can also see that I have spilled on my shirt...thanks to the shots! It was a great night of tradition and learning for me. After the official party was over it moved to a local hotel for more drinking. I made it there but after all the drinks and the fact that everyone was speaking Chinese I had to head home!

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