By Liu Zhongcan,He Jun

An International Wedding in a Small Valley

By Liu Zhongcan,He Jun

Arthur,Patricia Judge and Huang Dandan

Huang Dandan returned to her hometownSanliVillage,inJianshiCounty, Hubei Provinceof central China,two weeks before the Chinese New Year.It was going to be Year of the Monkey.

The street led to a valley,where a white two-story house stood amongst lush greens.It was Dandan’s home on Baojing Street.This village was located in the valley,aside the Donglong River, a tributary of the Qing River.She grew up here.

Dandan’sIrishboyfriend,Arthur Judge,and Dandan were recently engaged.He had been looking forward to a traditional wedding in Dandan’s hometown.

Worries from the Bride’s Parents

The wedding was set to fall on February 15th.Arthurs’s mother,Patricia,decided to travel from Europe to China to attend the wedding.

The bride’s father,Huang Yubing, and mother,Xiao Gufang,became nervous on hearing the news of Arthur’s mother’s arrival.They’d seen photos of Arthur’s house in Ireland.It was a villa built in a picturesque place—just like on a post card.Arthur’s family had a ranch and kept 12 horses.Arthur learned how to shoe a horse when he was 12.It would be the first time the parents were to meet.Would they feel at home when they arrived here?

Thebride’sfamilydidhavea two-story house,and it looked rather comfortable.

Xiao Gufang asked their daughter,“What do they like to eat?Should we prepare clothes for them,as it’s cold here?Any thing else we should prepare?”Dandan only told her not to worry,as she and Arthur would take care of everything.

Meanwhile,Patricia was also so excited about the visit to her future daughter-in-law’shometownthatshelost sleep over it.

Love in the Riding Club

After graduation from the Equestrian A-cademy at Wuhan Business College in 2009,Dandan started working at the Beijing Capital Riding Club.In August 2012,the club invited Arthur as their resident horseshoe master and Dandan was arranged to be his translator.Arthur was a tall and handsome man.He was also an excellent horseshoe master,one of the only 144 people around the world with a master’s degree in horseshoeing. DandanenjoyedwatchingArthur shoeing a horse;she watched him for more than 2 hours.Under her attention,Arthur also worked hard.He told her stories about horseshoes,about how different horses had different characters, and that getting kicked by a horse during the shoeing process was quite normal. He told her he was lucky he’d never had a serious injury.

Arthur regularly praised Dandan,and claimed she was the first Chinese beauty he met in China.As they became more familiar with each other,they started going out for dinner and went to see movies.One night,they returned late to the dorms and Arthur tried to hug her at the entrance to her dormitory.Dandan was shocked and pushed him away.She asked what he was doing.Arthur awkwardly said,“I only wanted to give you a good night kiss.”

Dandan nodded in consent and Arthur kissed her forehead.After that night, they started dating.

Arthur took Dandan to his hometown in Ireland and introduced her to his parents.They spent a month there.Dandan told Patricia of the beauty of her hometown many times and Patricia had been charmed.

Warm Reception in the Village

On February 12th,Patricia flew to Beijing.On the 14th,Patricia and Arthur flew from Beijing to Enshi.Dandan took a train there to pick them up.After an hour-long train ride,they arrived at Dandan’s home.

On February 15th,the wedding day, Arthur and Dandan wore traditional Chinese wedding outfits.Patricia stood next to them and welcomed all the guests.Although Patricia didn’t understand any of the language or customs,it didn’t stop her from welcoming the guests with warm smiles.

Over 20 friends of the bride came to Jianshi to extend their greetings and blessings.Arthur and Dandan gave them cigarettes and candies as tokens of appreciation.Theystartedjokingwith Arthur in Chinese,“we hope you love each other forever and have a child soon!”They didn’t expect Arthur to understand them,and were surprised when Arthur replied,“of course,I’ll have 5 or 6 children so we can have a football team.”

Patricia and the others all laughed at the joke.

A Tujia Wedding

The newly-weds paid their respects to their parents and all their family and friends sent them good wishes.

Dandan was from the Tujia ethnic group.In a Tujia wedding,there is food served non-stop for the people to come and eat.Patricia was quite impressed at the scale of this catering;4 or 5 tables were set up in the yard in front of their house and a team of chefs was hired. When a guest came to the tables,food was provided.Once they left,the table was cleaned and prepared for new guests to sit down and eat.

The fireworks and red decorations illustrated to Patricia how a traditional Chinese wedding was held.

In Ireland,people can only see fireworks at designated places,during certain holidays.But at weddings here, friends light fireworks of all kinds.

Photo of the large family

Xiao Gufang also prepared her favorite beef and lamb for Patricia.She cut the meat into strips for Patricia and fried them for her.Although the two couldn’t talk with each other,Patricia recognized her genuine concern.The bedroom of the newly-weds was also decorated with European details,such as a cute hand-painted elk on the wall.

Patricia was deeply impressed by the beauty of the place and the warmth of the Chinese wedding.She felt very welcomed while she was there.She said,“My daughter-in-law is a beauty,and Enshi is surely a beautiful place.”

(FromCutian Metropolis Daily.Translation:Zhang Lei.Photo:Liu Zhongcan)

was warmly

by Xiao Gufang.They had bought her new house shoes,as well as slippers to wear after her shower.They knew that in Ireland, the average temperature was 15 degrees centigrade,while Jianshi is quite cold in winter,so they provided Patricia with a heated blanket and heater.