As some of you may have seen the photo album, we had the opportunity last Friday evening to attend our first Chinese wedding. A colleague of Ramsay's from OPEN magazine invited us. We took the subway to Mudu stop and got off to find the Royal Garden Hotel. The outside looked like the capital building in DC but with a lot fewer steps and a Greek style fountain with statues in it. Our friend, the bride, and her husband to be were waiting inside the marble lobby of the hotel. They greeted every guest and were handed red envelopes of money as gifts to start their life together. Each guest also signed a long red scroll with gold ink. We were then escorted to the third floor and down a long hallway to a giant banquet room. We didn't know what to expect but once we set foot inside the room we got an idea. Over 400 Chinese guests and us. The tables were dressed with white cloths and the chairs had red seat coverings. Each table also had the lazy susan in the middle and place settings for 10 at each round table. They put us with a few other people from the magazine that we had met before and they spoke some English, which made it more comfortable. The appetizers were already on the table: Seaweed salad, mushrooms, soaked plums, bean salad, chicken livers, chicken feet, chicken breast, and another part of chicken I couldn't identify. Each table also had bottles of sprite, juice, bi joe (rice liquor), rice wine, red wine, an expensive carton of cigarettes, and boxes of candies for each of us.

The bride and groom entered to Chinese pop blaring across the room as well as the man who would marry them shouting like a game show host into the mic. The bride was walked down to the stage by her father, and at that moment me and every other woman in the room had wet eyes. They exchanged rings, a few people made toasts, the kiss, and then the parents of the bride and groom were brought up on the stage. They then bowed to their parents almost as if to say thank you for being there this far. I found this tradition very sweet. When Ramsay and I renew our vows one day and have an actual wedding party, this might be a Chinese tradition I'd like to follow in. After all, we were both blessed with wonderful parents and examples to follow in life, and to me, it just makes sense to make that very apparent and public gesture of gratitude.

The ceremony was followed by the feast, and what a feast! It seemed at one point like the plates just would never stop being brought out. No expense was spared to feed the guests well. Each table had a whole duck, whole chicken, whole lobsters, whole crabs, muscles, two kinds of soup, a turtle, a pork roast, a few veggie dishes, fruit plates, dumplings, squirrel fish, another fish dish with veggies, etc. The sheer abundance was shocking. It was all served family style so everything stays in the center of the table and you just reach in with your chopsticks and grab the bite you want. It is a really fun and beautiful way to share a meal. I recommend trying it! We have started doing this at home and the kids are learning to use the chopsticks some....we keep forks for them as well, just in case. It also serves as a time for us to all sit down as a family and share our days.

After eating and drinking our fill the kids found company with a tableful of Chinese women next to us. They played with cell phones and ipads for the rest of the time and got fed lots and lots of candy. (Too much! They were up almost until midnight) Ramsay and I talked with some other guests in English, a little Chinese, and for Ramsay, some Japanese. I have been saying it for months and I'll say it again, Chinese people are some of the friendliest, most sincere, and gentle people I have ever met. Sure some days there might be one person that isn't happy to see us, but for the most part they are very quick to smile and eager to share a laugh.

All in all our first Chinese wedding was very enjoyable and an experience we will remember for a lifetime. Thanks for another awesome time, China.