Its Friday morning and we left at 11am and headed to the ceremony.
Since we didn't know the bride and groom we assumed and thought best if we sat in the back of the restaurant (where the ceremony was). Nope! We were sat at the table closest to the front right next to the couples' parents. Oh goodness... probably also because we were laowai (foreigners).
We ate lots of food and watched as the family and friends make fun of the couple. There were actual firecrackers and fireworks that shot out of the stage (that was a huge surprise), and we listened to people in customs sing!
The ceremony came to an end, and we thought we were headed home.... when suddenly we found out that we had been invited to the new couple's house-where the festivities and cermony for the close family takes place.
Throughout the evening jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) were made by the aunt off the side of the street so we chowed down and enjoyed the evening!
We take a rickshaw there through the Muslim district and pull out chairs onto the side of the road where we sat for a few hours waiting for the next part to begin. Now... for the next part your about to hear... we had heard rumors... but thought they were just playing jokes on us....
Thats Big Momma carrying the chains... see the cute little grandma in the back and the bride (dressed in pink)... they're a little worried
It is Hui tradition to kidnap the groom and best man and chain them to a tree.... Oh yes! And we got to take part! When the groom and best man pulled up, we saw friends and family run towards them, they were chained up very tightly to a tree out front. The bride was taken away to go 'play games.' While the poor groom and best man was left outside, they had hot tea thrown on him, black paint smeared all over their faces (also tradition), while everyone stood around and made fun of them.
It was actually hard to watch at first, but when I got through the crowd and took a close look, they were smiling and laughing along.
We made some new friends and it so happened that one of the girls is getting married next month. So we've been invited, and at least this time we actually know the bride!
We left the ceremony around 7:30pm (over 8hrs of festivities), we were told the groom and best man would be unlocked sometime in the middle of the night....
