I wasn't going to send this one; it seems like ancient history now, even though it was only a few weeks ago. But today we saw 4 wedding celebrations -- all before noon -- and they reminded me of Xiaoyu and Suling's wedding at the beginning of our trip.

At one of the weddings, we were even given red ribbons after we said congratulations to the bride and groom in Chinese in the restaurant where we were having lunch . Thankfully, Xiaoyou's brother had taught us the correct pronunciation in at X &S’s wedding in Shenzhen and we still remembered it.

So today must be a propitious day on the Chinese lunar calendar, which they use to determine when a couple should marry. And for us it's a good day because we've finally decided to give ourselves a day off from travelling.

Actually we used half of the day to buy next week's airplane tickets to lower Mongolia, book our hotel for next week, and confirm details of our two-day excursion by car to see the Bingling Si monastery and some caves up north of Lanzhou. We leave tomorrow at 8 a.m. We needed a rest from our "vacation". Isn’t it funny how a vacation can turn into work when you’re travelling independently.

At any rate, Carolann has already filled you in on the wedding of Xiaoyu and Suling from the bride's perspective. Now here's the view from the groom's side, which I was honoured to be invited to join .

Wedding day started with two of Xiaoyu's friends picking me up in a car at my hotel at 8:30 a.m. They drove me to Xiaoyu's hotel where 10 of his male friends had gathered for a traditional Chinese breakfast. None of the bride's family or male friends were included in this. A still photographer and a videographer were there to record the event.

We were all sitting around a large round table with a large Lazy Susan in the middle where heaping plates of food were placed. Xiaoyu was dressed in a suit and tie, the others were dressed casually or in suits. Everyone except Xiaoyu was smoking heavily, which made eating difficult for me.

Breakfast was a typical Chinese meal with congee, sticky buns, different meats and vegetables. The food just kept coming out until the table was overflowing with food.

There was much more than this group could eat and it was hard to believe there was a time in the '50s when millions starved in China because of the famine . I remember when I was a child being told by my parents to clean off my plate because there were starving children in China who would love to have it.

At the end of breakfast, a couple of friends went off to decorate cars with roses. The cars, I should add, were provided by the company that organized the wedding photographers and pictures. There were four very comfortable black sedans, a BMW, Audi, Nissan and a Camry, for the wedding party. Several friends drove their own cars as well.

The company that provided the cars had four different dresses for the bride and a variety of suits for the groom for a two-day photo shoot a couple of weeks before the wedding. The wedding "package" included several high-quality leather bound albums (some 8x10, some 11x14), several framed photos, 4x6s for the guests, fancy invitations, a video and a large 8-foot poster all for roughly $1,500, including the cars.

The photos were shot in parks, on the beach or in a studio using backdrops that had them dressed in winter clothing on snowy fields, or in traditional Chinese wedding clothes in old fashioned scenes . Really amazing professional stuff! This is standard for the middle class in China now.

Around 9:30 a.m. all the men gathered at the entrance of the hotel where more pictures were taken. And someone pinned a corsage on me because I was part of the groom's "family" now.

After walkie-talkies were handed out to the drivers, everyone jumped into the convoy of cars for a drive around the city with the groom. The videographer was in the lead car with his head and camera stuck out of a sun roof to record the drive. I was designated "home movie man" and used Xiaoyu's handycam. Unlike the pro, I kept my head inside the weaving car.

We drove around for an hour, turns and passes co-ordinated with the walkie-talkies. By the way, there was no honking of horns like we do in Canada after a wedding.

Then we pulled up at the bride's parents' apartment block where Carolann was waiting with the bride, dressed in a traditional red Chinese wedding gown, and her friends and family .

After spending several minutes at the main entrance gate answering questions designed to test the groom's worthiness, the men climbed the six flights of stairs to the apartment -- there is no elevator in these buildings. The questions were just the first of three tests the groom had to pass before being granted admission.

At the door to the apartment, the groom had to answer more questions while the bride's friends yelled at us from inside. The men yelled back, pounded on the door and had to push red envelopes of money under the door to gain entrance. This went on for 10 minutes in the 90 F heat and humidity.

Once inside, we discovered that the women had all hidden inside the bride's bedroom. We were given water and a bowl of sweet noodles in a broth containing two boiled eggs. I was instructed to eat only one and leave the second. This is supposed to bring good luck.

The noodles represent long life, the sweet broth, happiness, and the spherical egg, harmony and full life.

Another contest began at the bedroom door where the groom had to sing a song, swear undying love, and pass more red money packets under the door.

Then the door opened and the groom had to find the bride's two red shoes hidden somewhere in the room and answer more questions, sing another song, and recite poems in Chinese and English. I was asked to come up with a suitable English poem, but couldn't think of any on the spot. I didn’t think the “Cremation of Sam McGee” would be appropriate.

After this, the bride and groom offered tea to the bride's parents in a formal ceremony that involved bowing and words of respect, and more pictures were taken.

At this point we prepared to leave and poor Xiaoyu had to carry the bride down the six flights of stairs in his suit and the high heat and humidity. He almost dropped her at the end while waiting for the convoy of cars to be brought around.

Once the cars arrived, men exploded large two-foot long decorated firecracker tubes sending showers of coloured paper strips flying all over us.

As the bride and groom drove off to take another tour of the city with their friends, Carolann and I decided to go back to our hotel to freshen up for the evening's main event – a dinner feast.

The reception and exchange of vows were held at the Seaview Hotel where we had taken breakfast. The groom wore another black suit and the bride wore her traditional red costume to greet the 150 guests.

On each table were sunflower seeds, pistachio nuts and Moon cake to celebrate the upcoming mid-Autumn festival. Moon cake is a small round brown cake the size of a donut with a fancy Chinese inscription baked into it. It's supposed to represent the moon.

Beside each table was a rack of pop, coconut milk in cans, a bottle of wine (red only), and a bottle of brandy. The latter two were served in small half-sized servings for the toasts. White wine is not served at weddings because white is the colour of mourning in China.

While we waited for dinner and the wedding couple to arrive, a video played on a large screen over the stage. This showed the bride and groom as children, and during their university and work years. It even had English subtitles for our benefit. Part of the video was a section that Carolann had recorded for them of Xiaoyu's Canadian work colleagues sending best wishes.

The video then switched to a pre-recorded shot of the bride and groom walking down the hotel hallway to the reception area. They were dressed in white, the groom in a white tuxedo and the bride in a fancy white wedding dress. The video stopped at the point where they would have entered the reception hall.

Then the doors opened and the couple entered the hall in real life preceded by two children dressed in matching outfits. It was pretty dramatic with large firecrackers showering everyone with coloured paper again.

Dinner started with a whole suckling pig on a platter with two fake, plastic tomato eyes that lit up. Everyone took off slices of crackling skin with chopsticks – which I should add is pretty tricky to do. The pig was then taken away and the meat was served later all cut up.

Next came expensive abalone on shells, fish with the heads on, two kinds of chicken, SHARK fin soup (a practice now frowned upon), sliced Lotus blossoms, pig's tongue, and a lobster dish in a cheese sauce. This was unusual because the Chinese don't normally eat cheese.

There were also large forest mushrooms and underneath them were– are you ready for this – large, webbed GOOSE feet. These were bright orange and a little unsettling.

We were used to chicken feet by this time, but goose feet were unexpected. We were not served any goose meat at the feast. I had visions of one-legged geese running around outside the hotel.

Carolann reports that the webbed feet were similar to chicken feet, but with a little more "something" on them. Needless to say, I didn't try them.

A hired MC dressed in white began the formal exchange of vows accompanied by loud music. This was not a religious ceremony. The couple exchanged brief vows and with prompting from the MC said the equivalent of "I do". He had them repeat it twice, louder the second time to please the cheering crowd.

Then they each bowed in unison to their parents and then to each other and kissed. And that was it, the ceremony was over.

Dessert was a brown gelatin substance in cubes, almond cookies and a brown bean soupy liquid in a bowl. There was a large fancy tiered wedding cake, but it was never served.

The couple did the usual rounds of all the tables for toasts and then after that each table went up and greeted them at the family table. People started leaving around 9:30 p.m. There was no dancing; it just ended and we went home to bed.

We were tired but really thrilled and honoured to have been invited to participate in this unusual day. The fact that we were treated like part of the family with our little corsages made it all the more special.

Now, weeks later, the firecrackers and toasts at today's wedding ceremonies reminded me how lucky we truly were to have participated in a real Chinese wedding.