Chinese Wedding

I just got back from a chinese wedding. I got up at 6am this morning to get breakfast and get ready. One of my teachers invited me and a classmate to attend. At 7am we went to do the couples new apt to watch the bride get ready and meet the maternal half of the family. Their new apartment is localed in a newly developed complex. There might be 20+ new apt buildings, still not fully leased/sold. It is all located on the outskirts of town making commuting a must. It was a very pretty place, much nicer than the periodic 'future apartment' pics i post.

At 9 we caravaned to a big military hotel to watch the ceremony and have lunch. It was a big hotel, with decorations to give a US wedding planner several heart attacks. Interesting enough I dont think the word tacky has entered into the chinese vocabulary. The ceremony began at 10, lasted maybe 5minutes, and was uneventful and uninteresting. There werent actually that many people paying attention. It was held in the lobby of the hotel. Lots of people talking and smoking as the MC conducted the ceremony. There was a brief intervention by some governmental official to make the whole thing official, then it was over.

We proceeded to lunch, where i was coerced by a gentleman at our table to drink bai jiu. Bai jiu is a clear 40-60% liquor commonly consumed in china by men. This particular brand was 50% or 100 proof and tasted like wretched fire water. I had three glasses with him, each larger than two shots. Then we moved on beer. There was lots of toasting for no reason and many toasts to the bride and groom. Being white in china, my classmate and I were invited to take pictures with the bride and groom.

The whole thing was over before 11am.