Well Amy and I just got back from a hectic 3 day trip to her hometown (Hukou) of Chifeng [chUr-fung] in Inner Mongolia, where we were married at the offices of the Chinese government in a civil ceremony.
The journey to Chifeng was certainly an interesting one, a flight from Shanghai to Beijing followed by a 10 hour overnight train ride to Chifeng and a 1 hour bus ride to Amy's parents home. The flight to Beijing was uneventful although it was something of a mad dash to make the flight, but once on board the China Eastern Airlines plane I was very impressed with the level of service, the planes cleanliness and the quality of the meal served on a 1:45 minute flight.....I think the U.S/ European airlines should learn something from this more fledgling airline industry.
After the flight arrived at Beijing airport we took a bus to the city, approximately 45 minutes and then the metro to the railway station where we would take our train to Chifeng. Now the train journey was a whole other experience. Our train ticket was for what is known as a sleeper cabin, however the cabin was far from anything private and we shared our space with about 50 Chinese folks who were also making the trip to Chifeng. As you can see in the photo below Amy is sitting on her bed, well actually its more like a plank of wood with a white cover on it and a quilt and pillow, that there are other folks sitting by the window. This cabin probably had about 60 or 80 beds. They are 3 levels high, and consist of groups of 6 beds. With about 20-30 carriages this train probably carried somewhere in the region 2000. There are even carriages without any beds, just seats for the more adventurous or those suffering from insomnia.
The whole process would normally take 3 days, however as Amy's school director would only allow her to take 1 day of leave we had to cram the whole process into a single day. In order to accomplish this we had to enlist the aid of a Chinese government "minder", a Mongolian gentleman who's name escapes me, but who was invaluable. He and his colleague walked us through the whole process, took us by taxi to various locations for photos, notarization etc, and finally issued us our little red marriage books.
Here are the photos taken at the civil ceremony, unfortunately we didn't get anything electronic, so these are photos taken of the glossy prints with my digital camera, not as good as the originals.
After the process was all completed, Amy, our Mongolian minder, his colleague and I went to a local restaurant for a meal. Everything on the menu came from the grasslands of Mongolia and our minder and his friend went to great pains to tell us that the fish came from a lake on the grasslands fed by pure uncontaminated mountain water, as did the mushrooms and the beef. Certainly the air there was fresher and more invigorating than that of Shanghai or Beijing.
This meal was one of many over the next couple of days...I think the term "chi bao le" was referred to earlier in this blog, well now it takes on a whole new level as we eat our way through various meals as we meet and greet Amy's family and friends. After completing the marriage Amy & I took the 1 hour bus ride to her parents home where her Mother had prepared my favorite dumplings.
Later we took some time to walk around Chifeng and do some sightseeing. Below is a compilation of shots taken during the walk and includes Amy's high school and a market.
This meal was one of many over the next couple of days...I think the term "chi bao le" was referred to earlier in this blog, well now it takes on a whole new level as we eat our way through various meals as we meet and greet Amy's family and friends. After completing the marriage Amy & I took the 1 hour bus ride to her parents home where her Mother had prepared my favorite dumplings.
Later we took some time to walk around Chifeng and do some sightseeing. Below is a compilation of shots taken during the walk and includes Amy's high school and a market.
The next night we took the sleeper train back to Beijing, however this time we upgraded to a private cabin that only contained 4 beds and a door with a lock should we need it. We shared the cabin with two rather stuffy and non communicative Chinese businessmen. On reflection, I think I really prefered the more open cabin where at least we were able to glimse into the lives of the regular Chinese people. As with the airlines, again I have to compliment the trains for their efficieny and professional staff. The photo below is taken as we say goodbye to some of Amy's class mates from her high school in Chifeng. The man is blue also one of Amy's classmates, works for the railroad, he booked and gave us the tickets as a gift, which is a lot of money for most Chinese. The gentleman next to him is Amy's daughter's Uncle and also a local lawyer, and finally the lady with the white scarf is now an English teacher at the local high school.
We arrived back in Beijing at 6:00AM the next morning and headed directly to Tiananmen Square & the Forbidden City. At the Forbidden City there's a race taking place to complete a restoration of many if not all the 800 plus buildings of the Forbidden City. Below are a couple of shots that show that completed process. If you can visualize the second photo without the airconditoining unit, you are probably viewing that building as it would have appeared maybe 600-800 years ago during the Ming Dynasty.
We arrived back in Beijing at 6:00AM the next morning and headed directly to Tiananmen Square & the Forbidden City. At the Forbidden City there's a race taking place to complete a restoration of many if not all the 800 plus buildings of the Forbidden City. Below are a couple of shots that show that completed process. If you can visualize the second photo without the airconditoining unit, you are probably viewing that building as it would have appeared maybe 600-800 years ago during the Ming Dynasty.
