A Busy Lunch In the Chinese New Year !

by Linda Liang
(Yangshuo, China)

I come from a small village on the top of mountain which only have less than 100 People. As the local culture, the new couple visit the wife's family at Chinese New Year, they should stay over night with the parents and eat with all the relation's family.

In 2003 Chinese New Year, after we got married one month later is new year time. We went to visit my parents and the relations, totally 7 families. We brought Chinese rice wine, pork, cookies as the gifts. But we didn't have time to stay over night with the parents, we had no time to eat with all the families either.

WE ONLY HAVE A LUCH TIME! So the first meal we eat is with my parents, my brother and his wife, my young brother, my niece and my sister.

It is very very rich food. After 40 minutes, my cousin's wife came in, she invites us to eat with her family, so we had the second meal next door with my uncle (my father's eldest brother), my cousin and his wife and their son.

We have more very very rich food as well, we are eating and drinking and talking; after 1 hour, my another cousin came in, after 5-6 minutes walking,we had our third meal with my grandma,two cousins, one niece, plenty of food......

We (William and me) are already married 6 years, we not to visit our families very often, but every Chinese New Year, we go and have fun with them. This is our custom in China.

We didn't have time to stay with the family because of our businesses in Yangshuo, one of them is the Snow Lion Resort Yangshuo in Yangshuo.