No doubt for those of you who have been to Asia, or have heard from friends who have been, there is sometimes curiosity from the local population when a white face appears.
This occurrence has lessened as East and West have become more integrated over the years, and in my previous travels to Asia I never experienced it – although this might have to do with the fact that I’m no Brad Pitt.
Regardless, my trip to Xuzhou finally aroused some interest from the locals. Most paid no attention, but enough did to make me start to feel slightly uncomfortable. These ranged from the farmers and elderly to teenagers – some stood and openly stared and pointed; other just looked on bemused.
Xuzhou being the industrially insignificant town (internationally) and of very limited historical or touristic value – but great fun, I hasten to add – means that foreigners are few and far between – so when one does appear, especially at a public event such as a wedding, and in the company of a Chinese girl, lights begin to flash here and there. I was able to count the ones that I saw to the highest number I can reach in Japanese (Ichi, Ni, San) 3 during my whole visit – including Tony and myself.
Tony, a very nice chap, turned out to be a fellow Brit: born in Reading, he moved to Canada about 25 years ago and was a proper high school teacher before trying his hand at ESL in China. He came along as a guest of the aunt of the bride, at whose school he works in Jiaxing, in Southern China.
But more than being an excuse to avoid drinking with 500 people, our attendance at the wedding had a deeper cultural meaning. By attracting foreign guests, the host families can display their international credentials to the other guests, a very significant step, and even more so in the presence of clients and colleagues.
Held in the relatively mid-level town that Xuzhou is gave it another edge, as did the fact that we came such a huge distance to attend. At a middle-class wedding in Beijing or Shanghai, attendance of the trophy foreigner would almost be expected.
This is not so say that all foreigners at weddings are trophies – this would be a greatly disrespectful accusation to level at genuinely warm and caring people such as the hosts of this wedding- but I thought it would be interesting to delve into a slightly off-beat part of the wedding process in China.
May 7, 2009 at 3:34 am |
keep em coming