China Day 6: May 14th
Today we started our day at noon, to allow people a chance to recover a little from the hike. There was
an optional basketball game starting at 6:30am (ha!) with the ZUCC students, and breakfast at 8am, but I declined because of a great need for sleep. We began our day by meeting outside the ZUCC campus and taking a bus ride to a restaurant near the lake. Lai (sp?), the daughter of the woman who arranged the wedding for us, also joined us. The lunch was very good, and included things such as watermelon juice, a Beijing-like duck, a roasted duck (which we had to eat within the first 5 minutes, or the flavor would not be as good), fish, and fruit. The Beijing duck has a tortilla-like wrap, which you fill with the duck meat, duck skin, celery, onion, and sauce, and then roll and eat. The lunch was also a good opportunity to get to better know some of the ZUCC students, such as Lillian, whom I hadn’t previously met. After lunch, we took a tour around part of the lake, and then a boat ride on one of the dragon boats. While the tour guide wasn’t very interesting to listen to and kind of went on and on, it gave me a chance to talk to Regina, who works with the ZUCC students. She was working on a project for a first grade class in Ohio, who was sending a paper cutout around the world, and having people take pictures of its travels. I thought it was funny how people kept taking pictures of us from their boats as they passed us on the lake. By the time our boat tour ended it was beginning to rain, so we rushed back to the bus so we could go back to the hotel and get ready for the wedding that night. Only having time to change into our business clothes, we prepared 200 Yuan, with the university 
providing another 100, and our business card to put in an envelope as a gift to present to the bride and groom. When we arrived at the hotel where the wedding was being held, we presented our gift to the bride and groom, and were seated in a VIP room. Shortly after, we were moved to different seats that would give us a better view of the ceremony. Even though I couldn’t understand what was being said, I could still follow a lot of what was going on. The ceremony started with a video, which I was told was for the couple to each other, and then the man reproposed to the woman. There was also a part of the ceremony where the couple poured two drinks together, like the pouring of the sand in the US. Both Dr. Li and Chris spoke on behalf of the group to the couple, and then it was time to eat! The food was very good and included things such as lobster, soup, and 
duck. There was also a rice wine, beer, and another wine, which some people in our group took advantage of a little too much. I didn’t drink because I don’t like the taste, and spent most of my time talking to Lai. Holly caught the bouquet from the bouquet toss, although it was a close call with Steven, a receiver on the football team, right behind her. At the end of the wedding we took a group photo with the bride and groom, and then it was time to head back to the hotel. Throughout the ceremony I was surprised at how similar it was to ceremonies in the US, but it was also cool to see the differences from how our ceremonies are held. I noticed that the ceremony was much shorter than in the US; while the reception could go until late into the night in the US, the Chinese wedding started at 5:30 and everyone had left by 8:30pm.
Today we started our day at noon, to allow people a chance to recover a little from the hike. There was 
an optional basketball game starting at 6:30am (ha!) with the ZUCC students, and breakfast at 8am, but I declined because of a great need for sleep. We began our day by meeting outside the ZUCC campus and taking a bus ride to a restaurant near the lake. Lai (sp?), the daughter of the woman who arranged the wedding for us, also joined us. The lunch was very good, and included things such as watermelon juice, a Beijing-like duck, a roasted duck (which we had to eat within the first 5 minutes, or the flavor would not be as good), fish, and fruit. The Beijing duck has a tortilla-like wrap, which you fill with the duck meat, duck skin, celery, onion, and sauce, and then roll and eat. The lunch was also a good opportunity to get to better know some of the ZUCC students, such as Lillian, whom I hadn’t previously met. After lunch, we took a tour around part of the lake, and then a boat ride on one of the dragon boats. While the tour guide wasn’t very interesting to listen to and kind of went on and on, it gave me a chance to talk to Regina, who works with the ZUCC students. She was working on a project for a first grade class in Ohio, who was sending a paper cutout around the world, and having people take pictures of its travels. I thought it was funny how people kept taking pictures of us from their boats as they passed us on the lake. By the time our boat tour ended it was beginning to rain, so we rushed back to the bus so we could go back to the hotel and get ready for the wedding that night. Only having time to change into our business clothes, we prepared 200 Yuan, with the university 
providing another 100, and our business card to put in an envelope as a gift to present to the bride and groom. When we arrived at the hotel where the wedding was being held, we presented our gift to the bride and groom, and were seated in a VIP room. Shortly after, we were moved to different seats that would give us a better view of the ceremony. Even though I couldn’t understand what was being said, I could still follow a lot of what was going on. The ceremony started with a video, which I was told was for the couple to each other, and then the man reproposed to the woman. There was also a part of the ceremony where the couple poured two drinks together, like the pouring of the sand in the US. Both Dr. Li and Chris spoke on behalf of the group to the couple, and then it was time to eat! The food was very good and included things such as lobster, soup, and 
duck. There was also a rice wine, beer, and another wine, which some people in our group took advantage of a little too much. I didn’t drink because I don’t like the taste, and spent most of my time talking to Lai. Holly caught the bouquet from the bouquet toss, although it was a close call with Steven, a receiver on the football team, right behind her. At the end of the wedding we took a group photo with the bride and groom, and then it was time to head back to the hotel. Throughout the ceremony I was surprised at how similar it was to ceremonies in the US, but it was also cool to see the differences from how our ceremonies are held. I noticed that the ceremony was much shorter than in the US; while the reception could go until late into the night in the US, the Chinese wedding started at 5:30 and everyone had left by 8:30pm.
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