At the risk of sounding ignorant, I’m going to pen my first thoughts on China. Like most Indians with preconceived notions of the Middle Kingdom, I too had my own list. Let’s start with their height. I thought all Chinese were short. My little bubble burst starting with my husband’s colleague who picked us up at the airport. She was almost 6 ft. Not ready to concede defeat yet, I watched as the Chinese continued to tower over me at malls and metro stations. Damn,and I thought this would be the only place on the planet where I might be considered tall. Anyway it piqued my interest enough to gather courage to ask a native Chinese. Luckily for me she was tall, so took no offense to my questions and went on to educate me. She told me, that like in India, people from different parts had certain characteristics. Broadly speaking, the people from South China are usually short. I repeat broadly speaking!
I am sure all of us have at some point wished that we all had straight hair like the Chinese. Hassle free and easy to maintain. This is misconception number two. I was quite surprised to see quite a few Chinese with wavy hair. It broke away from the conventional Head & Shoulders advertisement that we are all so used to seeing. Of course, there is the occasional curly haired blonde Chinese but I believe that is the handiwork of their neighbourhood beauty salon.
I always thought Delhiites swarmed to the salons in hordes. Surprise, surprise! The Chinese put us to shame. They are quite obsessed with their looks. There are at least 5 salons within walking distance from our apartment. I am pretty sure there are more and I just have not discovered them yet. And yet I find it difficult to find someone who can thread my eyebrows without making me feel like I’m in labour. They usually don’t thread. They use this blade that my grandfather’s barber used for shaving. I’m sure it is still used in barber shops in India. Emphasis on barbershop! Well, the Chinese women use a smaller version of it to shape their eyebrows.I always thought Indians had a monopoly on arranged marriages. Misconception number three. Apparently Indian aunties are not the only ones who call up saying there is a boy who is studying in the States . And that he happens to be her husband’s brother’s wife’s cousin. He is perfect for you. Well China is not very different. They have their fair share of relatives setting them up. But its slowly changing to speed dating, internet date sites and there are some whackier ones. Like parents of prospective girls and boys gathering at a park every Saturday and Sunday with their details on big chart papers. With special attention to details of how many apartments they have and if they own a car. And if you don’t have either an apartment or a car then the chances of finding a spouse for your child are simply next to impossible. So much for thinking this was a Commie country where wedding vows were exchanged with red paper garlands and over a glass of lime juice!
We are all used to the phrase big, fat, Indian wedding. In my limited knowledge of the world, I always figured we were the only ones who invited 500-1000 guests for our weddings, but even that would be low-key. The Chinese weddings are as big and as fancy and the guest-list runs into pages.
Like in India the newer generation of Chinese also thrive on everything Western. So much so that most Chinese brides have given up the traditional red gown, which is considered to bring good luck and keep away evil spirits. They’ve all taken a real fancy to the white gown made popular by western movies. Traditionally though the colour white signifies mourning in China and Japan. Well, having been married for three years now, I can’t help but agree. Marriage = Mourning:)
