Sunday was another eventful day. First I went to Xu Wenti's home to learn to make chinese dumplings. While my dumplings were certainly as tasty as any other, they were not nearly as decorative looking. I couldn't seem to master the art of folding and pinching the dough closed in a visually appealing manner.
In the afternoon we went to a wedding. The bride is a colleague of Wenti's husband, both working in public health education. I thought the wedding would be very different from US weddings, but it was much the same. It was kind of like a combination wedding and reception. While we all sat around the dinner tables, the wedding was performed. The ceremony involved the exchange of vows and rings. Then the ceremony leader asked the bride and groom questions about how they met, the first time they held hands, things like that. Influential people in their lives (their fathers, bosses at work, teachers) came forward and gave them advice. They cut the cake, drank some wine together, and that was about it. During the dinner the bride (and groom too I think) changed clothes 6 times. The original wedding dress was typical western. 2 of the subsequent outfits were traditional Chinese. I don't think the bride and groom ever sat down to eat. They circulated and changed clothes the whole evening!
While the bride and groom circulated and changed clothes, we feasted! An amazing amount of food. It is tradition to continually toast the bride and groom at your table. They had some special "white wine" to toast with. I choked on the first toast, making everyone laugh. The "wine" was 50% alcohol, 100 proof. As you can well imagine, it was a very happy reception!
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