various dates Dec. 2008

For all of you who weren't there i.e. probably all of you actually, a more detailed explanation of events can be found below the pictures of (1) Wedding Proposal at the Family From Far Flung Places Dinner, and (2) Visit to the Marriage Registration Office in Chaoyang, Beijing, and (3) Exchange of Rings at Lunchtime.

(1) Wedding Proposal at the Family From Far Flung Places Dinner (2008-12-03)
These are scans from regular prints, seeing as I forgot to bring a camera and the only one close to hand was old-fangled. (Remembered the engagement ring and champagne at least.)

'Sun' (say it a bit like 'Soon') is Huijie's family name (the family name comes before the given names in Chinese), Huili is biggest sister (husband Wang Liang was working), Huilin is middle sister, Mingming is Huilin's daughter (husband Gary in Australia atm), Wang Yuchen is Huili's son, Anne-Geoff-Jan most will know already. It's not polite to call elders by name, so Huijie's mother is just called Ma (mother, basically).

Mingming has already made several requests for a baby sister at earliest convenience.

(2) Visit to the Marriage Registration Office in Chaoyang, Beijing (2008-12-19)
After a few weeks of happily (and officially*) engaged bliss, we were off to the Marriage Registration Office with all the necessary papers and documents, ably chauffeured by me mum, on the auspicious date of December 19, 2008. Thanks to all who assisted with that!
* see detailed version, below all the pictures.

So, now Huijie and I are married, with documentary proof in the form of official red booklets. The marriage is recognised in all civilised countries; we could have made arrangements to get a New Zealand marriage certificate as well, but the fee was a extortionate (2,400RMB for the witnessing, and 2,400RMB per hour plus travel costs for an embassy person to come out and do the witnessing), and in the end not necessary, as New Zealand is one of the civilised countries that recognises marriages made in China (it's a real one, I promise!).

(3) Exchange of Rings at Lunchtime (2008-12-19)

The detailed version
Apologies for giving notice after the fact, but we were planning to give everyone a bit of a surprise at the dinner - seemed like a good opportunity as there was going to be lots of family in Beijing at the same time. Proper celebrations and ceremonies are still to come!

We'd heard earlier in the year that my father and his wife Anne would be visiting Beijing for a week as part of their world tour, coincidentally at the same time that Huijie's second-eldest sister would be back from Australia. My mother lives in Beijing, as do Huijie's mother and her biggest sister. Handshakes were made, kisses exchanged, a plan was hatched, and we became secretly, sort-of unofficially engaged with proper proposal to come, unknown to anyone but a few who could be trusted not to spill the beans and spoil a surprise.

I was back in New Zealand around September to sort some things out, and had been spending quite an amount on international phone calls. During one of these phone calls Huijie seemed a little anxious about these plans--with me so far away, might I have a change of heart? I directed her to find a secret box inside a secret bag inside a not so secret drawer: inside, my mother's mother's engagement ring, which was also my mother's engagement ring, passed down through generations (and in my possession for more than a year at that point), waiting for the right moment, and to be remodelled to suit a different sized finger.

So, a few weeks ago--December 3rd, 2008, to be precise--everything was in place. The scene: a large table in a private room; the characters: all aforementioned family members, as well as Huijie's mother, niece, and nephew; the action: various toasts to everybody's health and the happy coincidence of us all being in the room at the same time, with some arriving from far-flung places, and Huijie accepting (phew!) the proposal of marriage.

And then, a few weeks after that (December 19th, 2008, if you're interested in fine details. Also an auspicious day, if you're interested in the I Ching and that sort of thing), the first stage of a multi-phase wedding - the registration of marriage with Relevant Authority, and the exchange of rings. The next stages, at times and dates, yet to be determined, will be Our Big Fat Chinese Wedding Banquet (location: Beijing), and another ceremony and celebration in New Zealand. A Wedding World tour, with Huijie and I getting married and celebrating at least thrice, depending on the amount of stops on the world tour. (I hope that this is legally permissible.)