The Wedding: Charlie Davison and Ran Song; Beijing - Sunday 7th September 2014: in the Chinese Mid Autumn ‘Mooncake’ Festival
For a wedding, the pictures tell the story, so I hope this (limited) slideshow does the job. Four hours by magnificent bullet train, more a plane, to Beijing, which has the latitude/climate of Madrid when unpolluted. This is in contrast to Nanjing’s ‘Marrakesh’, and the weather did behave itself beautifully for our 4-day visit.
As reported by the groom’s family and friends on Tuesday, (all involved in Australian motor racing in some way) whilst we crept and wove through the morning traffic by minibus to walk the Great Wall, Charlie has ‘bagged the best looking girl in China’ and so it proved, though of course we Kenilworthians already knew that. Charlie was fabulous in a grey Chinese style jacket, but the dress code overall was impressively less trussed and formal for the Chinese guests (they looked great owing to their good figures). Mixing the three cultures was the order of the day. Once a Jolly Swagman, promenading kangaroos and pandas, God Save the Queen, (Stephanie as ‘priest’ read the vows in the white dress part complete with a bevy of bridesmaids and Bach); Chinese music of violins, zithers and operatics; all this made for a wonderfully evocative celebration. For the ‘Chinese’ half, Ran wore traditional red and the family together enacted a tea ceremony, giving respect. This, even with Yorkshire Gold, should be incorporated in our own children’s nuptials. Formal, slithery silver-topped chopsticks slow down your eating speed which is just as well, given the huge banquet which was on offer, plus the frequent toasts of rice wine and red wine – good stuff from Shandong province. The evening celebration was held in Club 16 in traditional downtown Beijing, overlooking a fairytale yet bleak Tianneman Square by night. The Minister for Domestic Affairs (like our Home Office?), Ran’s father’s boss, gave a party for her and Charlie’s family the next evening. The work involved for the wedding meant Ran gave up her job in August and it must have been a mammoth undertaking and very hectic for them. Charlie is working in Shanghai from October and we hope to meet up as Shanghai is a mere 2 hours by train.
John and I negotiated the new Beijing subway, which makes the London Underground look medieval. Met my second cousin twice removed (Tom Maj, Pat’s grandson); a resident of Beijing, a fluent Chinese speaker, a magnificent tour guide and all round good guy. We ‘did’ the impressive Forbidden City in the sun, right up to the Pagoda of the Emperors with the view to the blue hills of the Great Wall of China and far Mongolia. But don’t expect stately home furniture in this city in a city. Back to the Crowne Plaza which was definitely the very best place for me to develop Beijing Flu strain HC1 in, then home by bullet through the wheat fields grading to rice as you go south, with the geese, fish and duck lakes (feeding 1.4 billion can’t be easy), and through forests of new cities of residential skyscrapers rising from the fields in their scores. Check out the video clip.
For a wedding, the pictures tell the story, so I hope this (limited) slideshow does the job. Four hours by magnificent bullet train, more a plane, to Beijing, which has the latitude/climate of Madrid when unpolluted. This is in contrast to Nanjing’s ‘Marrakesh’, and the weather did behave itself beautifully for our 4-day visit.
As reported by the groom’s family and friends on Tuesday, (all involved in Australian motor racing in some way) whilst we crept and wove through the morning traffic by minibus to walk the Great Wall, Charlie has ‘bagged the best looking girl in China’ and so it proved, though of course we Kenilworthians already knew that. Charlie was fabulous in a grey Chinese style jacket, but the dress code overall was impressively less trussed and formal for the Chinese guests (they looked great owing to their good figures). Mixing the three cultures was the order of the day. Once a Jolly Swagman, promenading kangaroos and pandas, God Save the Queen, (Stephanie as ‘priest’ read the vows in the white dress part complete with a bevy of bridesmaids and Bach); Chinese music of violins, zithers and operatics; all this made for a wonderfully evocative celebration. For the ‘Chinese’ half, Ran wore traditional red and the family together enacted a tea ceremony, giving respect. This, even with Yorkshire Gold, should be incorporated in our own children’s nuptials. Formal, slithery silver-topped chopsticks slow down your eating speed which is just as well, given the huge banquet which was on offer, plus the frequent toasts of rice wine and red wine – good stuff from Shandong province. The evening celebration was held in Club 16 in traditional downtown Beijing, overlooking a fairytale yet bleak Tianneman Square by night. The Minister for Domestic Affairs (like our Home Office?), Ran’s father’s boss, gave a party for her and Charlie’s family the next evening. The work involved for the wedding meant Ran gave up her job in August and it must have been a mammoth undertaking and very hectic for them. Charlie is working in Shanghai from October and we hope to meet up as Shanghai is a mere 2 hours by train.
John and I negotiated the new Beijing subway, which makes the London Underground look medieval. Met my second cousin twice removed (Tom Maj, Pat’s grandson); a resident of Beijing, a fluent Chinese speaker, a magnificent tour guide and all round good guy. We ‘did’ the impressive Forbidden City in the sun, right up to the Pagoda of the Emperors with the view to the blue hills of the Great Wall of China and far Mongolia. But don’t expect stately home furniture in this city in a city. Back to the Crowne Plaza which was definitely the very best place for me to develop Beijing Flu strain HC1 in, then home by bullet through the wheat fields grading to rice as you go south, with the geese, fish and duck lakes (feeding 1.4 billion can’t be easy), and through forests of new cities of residential skyscrapers rising from the fields in their scores. Check out the video clip.