The family began arriving the day before. Xin Jiao's mother, two older sisters, the oldest sisters husband, Xin Jiao's daughter and granddaughter came to the feast. The rest of the family was working and couldn't be there.
We all conveined in mother's hotel room next door to ours and talked. Rather they talked and I dozed because I don't speak Cantonese. I am being talked about, poked, patted on the head and I begin to wonder if I am the main course for the feast. This is like any other family we might know in the U.S. but they are in China. The more we think we are different the more I discover we are the same.
The restaurant where the dinner was held was one of the nicest restaurants I've been to since going to China. It was very elegant. We had the dinner in a private room. There were eight in total there. Many couldn't be there because of work. Xin Jiao's two older sister played the roll of older sisters very well. They put makeup on her face, would serve Xin Jiao and I food and even coached us how to hold wine glasses for the picture above. You can see the love for each other.
The food was fit for a king and queen. It began with turtle soup. I've never had turtle before and it is pretty good. I asked Xin Jiao what the soup was and all she would say was that it was good for me and she didn't know the English name for it. That generally means that I need to know what it is. I got up and peeked into the bowl and of course hammed it up when I discovered what it was. The family watched and laughed as went into my antics like I was going to faint.
There were about eight dishes and I was relieved to see that I would not be the main course when they brought out the chicken. I didn't get a picture of it but I did get a picture of what was left. Sorry if you are squeemish about these kinds of things. If you are you will be shocked daily in China.
Though I didn't eat the head I did try the delicacy of chicken feet. It wasn't anything to get excited about and a lot of work for a morsel of meat.
Back to the family. What a great family. My new brother-in-law Wong is a real character. The first time I met him two years ago he gave me a hard time because I wouldn't smoke or drink with him. We were in his home and he found and dusted off a coveted bottle of wine so I shared a little.
This trip Wang set out to get me drunk. It took a little crafty method to avoid it but I managed to. Wang, it turns out, is fond of brandy and since it was a wedding and at my expense why not drink some. This was the strongest brandy I'd ever drank. Every time I turned around he wanted to have a toast. As he gulped I sipped. Whew it was a close one but we both had a lot of fun.
It was a great wedding dinner and all had a good time except for the chicken and the turtle. But I don't think they'll remember.
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