An Ankang Wedding
The invitation was delivered orally Monday afternoon by Mr. Wang, the groom, and Mr. Zha, his translator. Nick and I were each given a sealed red paper bag filled with candies, peanuts, and seeds. Red is the color of weddings and the treats inside symbolized the wish for sweetness and a child. The verse on the outside said, "Tell me, do you love me? Whisper softly, sweetly, as of old! Tell me that you love me, Tor that's the sweetest story ever told." The mistakes in English always amuse me.

Saturday at 11 we met Mr. Li, his wife and son at the front of the school and walked two blocks to a new restaurant. This was the location of the wedding. Along the way Mr. Li asked me if this was my first Chinese wedding. On hearing, "Yes," he informed us this was "only an Ankang wedding." We met Mr. Jiang at the door and Mr. Zha and his son. Mr. Li's wife and son disappeared.

Entering the restaurant, we saw the bride and groom to the left on a small stage and guests seated at a dozen or so tables which filled the rest of the room.
We were asked to present our gift. So we did, telling them it was something ever American and Australian household has and is given at all weddings....sometimes by more than one guest.

I took some pictures of the couple as they paid homage to their parents and then to the guests. Apparently that ended the 30 minute ceremony so we had missed the main part. A bit disappointed I went upstairs to the private dining room where my group was seated.

We had a 20-25 dish meal with the usual amount of toasting and cheers. Eleven appetizers started us off which is not unusual either. What was unusual was the addition of several dessert dishes.
Nick and I sat between Mr. Li and Mr. Jiang. Which was appropriate as we seem to be a part of a tension between them. That tension was evident as the meal began. Mr. Li was not translating for Mr. Jiang and though smiling had some stern words.

Mr. Wang, the groom, was a head teacher for one of the first grtade classes I taught last year. He is now a Chinese teacher. He started teaching when he was 19 and has been teaching for 6 years. A few of his students, and mine, attended the festivities. They were ready and waiting for the time when silly string is sprayed at the couple. I was too... but missed that part. I'm hoping the students didn't!

Sometime during the meal the couple came to greet their guests. All of us at the two tables in our dining room rose to toast them. The bride had changed from the white Western style gown she wore for the beginning ceremony into the more traditional red dress for this part of the celebration. After we all toasted their happiness, they moved on to another private dining room. And soon after we left.


As we left I asked Mr. Li where his wife and son were. They hadn't gone to the wedding, they had gone to her father's. We dropped in to meet him. They were eating hot pot when we arrived. We visited while they finished up. Mr. Zhang is 83 years old. His wife died of cancer this past summer. We sampled his medicinal spirits which take two years to make and warm your insides quickly. I asked to see his medal. He received it for 60 years (1945 to 2005) of fighting the Japanese. He came from Shandong province in 1949, the year of the Long March but was not a part of the march. He asked how we like Ankang and we said we like it, the people are so friendly. He said it's not a rich place.
His daughters, Mrs. Li and Mrs. Zhang, decided to make jiaozi/dumplings. We snacked on three different types of oranges and sunflower seeds while we played Chinese marbles and visited. Mrs. Zhang, their father and the housekeeper prepared the stuffing, hand chopping everything, and dough for the dumplings.

Then Nick had his chance to learn the art of forming dumplings. Until you've had that experience and seen the materials assemled, you don't appreciate the work involved. We had a dinner of the best jiaozi in town. Finished off with some pomelo, a grapefruit type fruit that is not tart. Then said our farewells.

As Nick said...you never know what a day will bring.