Chinese Engagement Photos

Engagement photos in China are big business. Every weekend companies line up booths outside malls all over Dalian to lure engaged couples to chose their business for this very important experience. The groom's family, who typically pays for the wedding, spend $500-1000 for the shoot, which by Chinese standards is a lot of money. What's different from engagement photos take in the U.S. is that the Chinese photos are over the top; the goal is to transform the bride into a Vouge cover model and the groom a model in a GQ ad, leaving the bride and groom looking like someone you might not recognize. 

Andrew decided last October when we first arrived and saw the photos at the booths that we were definitely having Chinese engagement photos. Our shoot was last Saturday and it was even more over the top than we imagined. The day involved four costumes provided by the photography company, four locations, four hair styles, a raft, a camera man, an assistant and a stylist. We traveled to four locations: a flower field, the beach, a private pond and the studio. Over the 10 hours it took for the photo shoot, the stylist got to know me fairly well even though she didn't speak English. She changed my outfit and fully adhered a stick on bra to me in a parking lot, all part of the Chinese engagement photo experience.

We hope to get the photos from the shoot in the next month. Included in our package is a 36 inch framed photo, a vinyl scroll photo, two 8 1/2 x 11 inch framed photos and two large photo albums. 

The stylist penciling in Andrew's eye lashes.

Putting on foundation.

First costumes of the day. Notice Andrew's white pants.

The flower filed along with about 20 other couples.

Why not wear a white suit?

Changing in the parking lot.

A very popular place.

Hair & makeup again.

Evening gown & bamboo raft. It makes sense, right?

The crew.

Traditional Chinese wedding outfits, why not?

Happy Hookers

Being a stay-at-home fiance in China I frequently find myself having opportunities to do things I wouldn't have a chance to do as a career woman in the U.S.; one example is learning how to crochet. Leon's fabulous mom, Jacinta, visited from Ireland and she happens to be a fantastic crocheter and was more than happy to teach me and some friends the great life skill of crochet. I can't say I'm very good and it takes a lot longer than you think to make one tiny little square, but I'm hooked. It's another activity to fill my time. You never know, next I could be crocheting blankets and even moving on to knitting.

Of course we'd have wine at our crochet lesson.

I take crochet very seriously and so does Jacinta.

A Day in the Country

Last Friday I took a trip to the country with my friends Leon & Kevin with Kevin's co-worker to pick fruit. We rode our bikes, Leon and I on our electric bikes and Kevin and his friend on bicycles. We visited a cherry farm and an elderly women's farm. The elderly women's farm grew many kinds of fruits and vegetables, pumpkin, lettuce, strawberries, apples, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, apple pears, pears, the list goes on. It was a great day and really fun to see a traditional country Chinese home. 

Locals washing their clothes in the river.
Many Chinese don't have a washer and dryer in their home.

 Picking cherries with the farmer. 

Traditional Chinese kitchen. The adjacent room is the living/bedroom.
The platform is the bed. In the winter coals used to cook dinner are placed
under the platform to keep the bed warm. There isn't any heating in the home.

Courtyard 

Poppy seeds

Kevin the elderly farmer and me.

Homemade wine, a.k.a moonshine

Organic cucumber

An uncovered well, definitely a hazard for anyone walking
along who doesn't know there is a well there.

Locals cleaning cloth after making tofu noodles.

The cherry farmer's house.

Goat. I understand the goat was purchased for the farmer to milk
for Kevin's friend. He left with a pint of goat's milk for $3.00.

Imports

Next to our apartment complex is an import store called Sunny (named after the Chinese owner who's English name is Sunny). Sunny is the best and worst thing. It is great because you can find those can't live without items from home and always a good western treat.  It is horrible because you can't leave there without spending $30 because everything is about 50% more expensive than in the U.S. For example, the other day we purchased these items:

This is what they cost:

Granola bars: $4.81

Beer: $3.49 each

Olive oil: $12.95

Flour: $6.97

Reese's: $1.55

Total: $33.16

In comparison, this is what we would have paid at Safeway in Phoenix:

Granola bars: $2.99

Beer: $1.50 each

Olive oil: $9.89

Flour: $4.39

Reese's: $1.09

Total: $21.36

Typically we try to avoid Sunny if possible. However, by comparison, fruit and vegetables are much less expensive. I purchased a pound of potatoes out of the back of a farmer's truck last week and paid 15 cents. Those same potatoes would cost $2.39 in Phoenix.