Note: This entry was created after our arrival back in Ottawa due in part to our limited time and more importantly to a poorer choice of Internet Cafรฉ in our neighborhood. More is said in our last travel posting about our periodic encounter with technology.
As “Wedding Part 1” was hosted by the bride’s parent. This time “Wedding Part 2”, held on Friday, was an urban (Shanghai) celebration hosted by the groom’s parent. Again we got the fireworks announcement that the bride and groom had arrived. The majority of the attendees had been bused over from the bride’s small town. For lunch, the group of 30 or so walked over to a local restaurant where three connecting private rooms accommodated us. I noticed that most large restaurant maintain several aquariums on their premises to offer fresh seafood and other delicacies (snake, turtle, etc). After a break of a few hours, the group re-assembled to be bused into the downtown area, at a nice restaurant near Nanjing Road. There a larger group had showed up to celebrate the newly weds. Again much eating, drinking and smoking took place. A old custom among Chinese is to “bottom-up” with others at the table. Thank God, Jenny explained to some that it was not one of my customs (actually I don’t really know what see told them!). By now, I had discovered that a plate of watermelon usually marked the end of meal. I was always eager to see the watermelon arrive – but this time they did not have any (just to confuse me a bit more!).
The next day Wedding Part 3 started with a small contingent of the immediate bride and groom family members embarking at 11am on a local city bus to get to the long-distance bus station. There we boarded a bus for a 5 hour journey to the town of Funing – where Jenny’s mom was raised and where her mom’s brother and sister still live. The bus ride was another opportunity to see a bit more of the countryside – although mostly from the highway. Arriving in Funing, we were lodged, courtesy of the groom’s parent, at a very nice hotel. For supper, we were invited at the restaurant. In the evening, we walked the waterfront. The next morning, we walked over to Jenny’s uncle’s apartment (retired doctor). Jenny and her younger brother had not visited their uncle for the past 20 years, although the uncle had visited them in Shanghai a number of times. After several hours of lively discussion, the group walked to a local restaurant for lunch. Jenny had hinted that we could possibly try cycling in this small town (pop. 100,000) in the afternoon. We started the afternoon by visiting the countryside, by car, where Jenny’s mom lived – a truly rural area. There, we finally saw large rice fields. Victoria was really happy to discover where her rice came from. I enjoyed the up-close and personal walk of this rural area.
By late afternoon, Jenny started to report stomach aches. Back at the hotel, the symptoms of food poisoning quickly began to emerge (high fever, vomiting, diarrhea,…). Others also reported similar malaise – including the groom. Jenny managed only a short visit at the evening wedding celebration held at our hotel’s banquet hall. Victoria and I stayed on to the end of the lively evening – including karaoke. By late evening, Jenny’s fever had past and already started felling much better.
The next morning at 5am, under a heavy fog cover, we took place on the bus for our return back home. Due to fog, the highways were closed, the bus took the local road which were much more enjoyable – although it took us another 1-2 hours to get to Shanghai because of road construction (every bridge along the way appeared being replaced).
We were all very happy to be back!