Wedding Part Deux

So, the evening session of the wedding was suitably eventful.  t's not uncommon for one or two people to over-indulge at a wedding, but to have both the bride and the groom carried out is quite an achievement.  It turns out that this result is almost inevitable when they are basically required to go round the whole room toasting each guest with the rice wine spirit I mentioned in a previous post.  The toasting thing was quite fun for the rest of us though. John and I had a wonderful time toasting the parents of our translators and telling them they should be very proud - seemed to push the right cultural buttons and make us very popular.  In case you find yourself at a Chinese wedding, the cry of "Gambei!" is what follows the toast text and precipates the downing of the shot.

 

With the bride and groom departed, it was time for the guests that remained to go next door for a stint of karaoke, which was curtailed shortly before midnight when the bride's father appeared and told us that the gates to our government-run hotel were going to be shut shortly and we should get moving if we wanted to get back in.

 

I'm very behind on these blogs as I'm writing this shortly before midnight on Friday and the wedding was last Saturday.  There are other fun and games to fill you in on and I'm hoping to do that in the next day or so, but in short we saw some more of the sights of Ningxia province and then shofted on down to Xi'an via a very hot overnight train.  The carriage we were in resembled a youth hostel dorm - 10 triple decker bunks side by side down the carriage.  Usually they're air conditioned I'm told, but not this one.  The beds also don't seem to be designed for anyone over about 5' 10" (turns out I'm just over that mark) and the top bunk left me a little cramped as a result.  Plus, for reasons unknown, the fans go off and windows are shut just as everyone is trying to sleep.  The mind boggles.