Chinese wedding
This was the second Chinese wedding I had been to. This time as a close relative as it was my wife’s younger brother getting married. You can see us all lined up on the picture with my wife and son plus my father and mother in law.
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The wedding was in Shenzhen so we flew down from Hangzhou airport. It was snowing in Hangzhou (and when we got back) but 22 degrees Centigrade in Shenzhen. It shows again what a big and diverse country this is.
It was an arranged marriage, still the norm in China, yet both bride and groom seemed quite content. The magnificent meal was shared by over 250 people and a good time was had by all. Although the family are Buddhists, no religious ceremony was held at the meal, although the various traditional acts, such as the bride serving tea the following day to all family members, meant there was always something going on over 3 or 4 days.
It is the tradition to give “red envelopes” containing cash rather than presents and the hope and expectation is for enough money to be given for the couple to have a bit of a start in life. In this case they were able to start their own business on the proceeds.
As the only Westerner there I was a bit of a standout feature at the start but the day, of course, belonged to the happy couple.
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