a Chinese wedding

On Saturday night, Amy (from the FAO) called me to invite me to a wedding on Sunday. Turns out the groom, a coworker of Amy’s boyfriend, wanted foreigners to attend his wedding, and Amy made it happen. Knowing full well I was being used for my foreigner status, I decided to use them right back for a cool cultural event with, no doubt, amazing (and free) food.

The wedding was beautiful. The bride and groom entered the banquet hall, walking through a sparkling pyrotechnics display towards the stage, where an MC entertained the crowd by telling funny anecdotes about the bride and groom and forcing them to do a series of hilarious, and perhaps embarrassing, things for those in attendence. But other than the signing of wedding certificates, there's no official ceremony, per se.

Chinese weddings last a couple of days. On the first day, the bride's family hosts a small function, but as I didn't attend that part, I can't comment on it. The next day is the groom's family's function and the final part of the festivities. The groom's event is often larger, so more family, friends, and foreigners are allowed and encouraged to attend.

After signing certificates, they're proclaimed as man and wife, and the couple exits and we are served a copious amount of delicious banquet food. The couple re-emerges (and the bride has changed out of her wedding dress and into another, less official looking dress), going from table to table, toasting their guests. They even came to our table, and I took advantage of the situation by having a photo op with the gorgeous couple.

The wedding was actually quite the event, as the who's who of Lanzhou were in attendance. The bride is a successful business woman and the groom is a TV announcer. The MC was a local TV celebrity, and the mayor of Lanzhou and the governor of Gansu were also there. And, let us not forget the three foreigners: Gary, Paul, and Angie. I should really allow myself to be used more often. I had a blast! And the food was amazing, too!

left to right: Paul, Groom, Bride, Me (sporting my new Chinese sweater), and Charlie (the best man, who also works for the FAO at my school)