Experiencing the People of China

     On March 15, my son married a lovely girl from China.  On Sept 15th, her parents hosted a celebration of the marriage in Nanjing, China. My husband, my daughter, my brother in law and sister in law and two friends travelled to China to participate in the celebration. But this post of my blog is not to talk about the wedding.  I will do that in another posting.  This post is to talk about the incredible warmth and kindness of the Chinese people. 

We first travelled to Shanghai and spent 3 interesting days there.  Rather than the 9 (the 7 listed above and my son and daughter in law) of us taking a train with lots of luggage, we decided to hire a driver and a van.  The hotel told us that it would take about 2 1/2 hours to get to Nanjing.  The train would take 1 1/2 hours.  We decided to accept the extra hour travelling and have less hassle than we would have taking the Metro or cabs to the train and dealing with all the luggage transfer.  Well, it actually took 5 hours to drive!  My son's in-laws had said that they would come to the hotel to meet us.  Unfortunately for them, that meant that they had to wait until 11 pm to meet us.  I had worried that they might be frustrated with us, but they turned out to be very warm and gracious people.

For our entire time in Nanjing, they had arranged a van and a driver to pick us up from the hotel every day and to drive us around.  The following morning, they picked us up to go to the birthday celebration and luncheon for the 90 year old grandmother.  The grandmother was a tiny ball of energy, probably about 4 1/2 ft tall.  She greeted us with a big smile and held our hands.

  At the wedding, she walked up a flight of stairs as if it were nothing.  We were told that she regularly climbs the temple steps.  She received toasts from everyone by drinking American whiskey and baiju, a very strong Chinese liquor.  Like all grandmothers, you could see how she treasured her grandchildren around her.  And they included my son in all the pictures of her with the grandchildren and/or relatives.

 She was a teacher before retiring, and at the birthday celebration, she was seated at a table with her former students who were in their 60's and 70's.

  At the wedding, we met my daughter in law's 86 year old paternal  grandfather.  He was a tall, stately man, also very dynamic, greeting everyone with a big smile and receiving and giving toasts also.  Here is a picture of the grandfather and uncle chatting with my son:

Individually, the grandmother and then the grandfather got up on the stage at the wedding and gave speeches.  The grandmother had a few little tiny notes, but the grandfather spoke extemporaneously.  For our benefit, there was a translator.  I think that they are great role models.  Here is a picture of the two of them sharing a laugh:

     My sister in law had happened to mention that she was looking for the silk Mandarin style pajamas for her granddaughters.  As we climbed back into the van after the party,  my daughter in law's mother had arranged for us to go to a silk store to make silk purchases with a discount.  The same thing happened when my daughter mentioned that she would like to take a night boat ride on the river with all the lights and decorations.  It was immediately arranged (and paid for).  The father even joined us, even though it was late and the wedding was the next day with some final details still to be completed.

They treated us to a succession of restaurants with many, many courses, showcasing foods and food preparation styles from different areas.  (My next post will just be about the food.)  They treated us to a tour of the Confucius Temple, the National Museum of Imperial Examinations started by Confucius, and the Gan Xi Folk museum.  When we would offer to pay for something, he would repeatedly say that it was "his honor and his duty to do this."  They also invited us to their home and gave us a tour of his petrified rock collection and the mother's framed Chinese embroidery and of course had another spread of food and beer for us at the end of which they gave each couple gifts, beautiful framed Chinese embroidery.

On the day of the wedding, the van picked us up and brought us to the wedding venue and we met more of the family.  EVERYONE made us feel so welcome and that we were part of their family now and inviting us to come visit.

So, this was our experience of the kindness and hospitality of our new family.  But just about everyone we met in China (the tour guides, the waitresses, the cleaning people, the hotel staff, store clerks, etc, were very polite, helpful and very happy.  (I guess the only exception was people trying to sell us souvenirs at tourist areas.  They were very aggressive.  In another post, I will talk about a funny experience with my sister in law at a tourist site.)  I did not expect the kindness and happiness of the Chinese people.  I expected a more serious and private people.  The personnel at the hotel could not do enough for us.  The waitresses at the restaurants, even though they could not speak English, were very patient and helpful.  The tour guides were always upbeat and positive about the future.

So, if you have China on your radar as a possible tourist destination, but are hesitating, I say, "Go!!!".

Future posts on China:  Wedding (after I get more pictures), Food,  Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing, Toilets, Insane Driving, Haggling