I got this series of pictures from a friend. I have no idea where it is in China. One can just imagine the logistics of organizing this.
I counted something like 500 tables here — making it a banquet for 5000 people. Wowee!
Let’s think about this some more:
- Where would you put the bride and bridge groom’s table?
- What about washrooms?
- How do you deal with gate crashers?
- Seeing all the umbrellas, what if it rains?
What other problems can you think of that need to be addressed during the planning?
Enjoy.
Now, I wonder if the bride and groom have to visit every table.
That place is Guangzhou.
Wow that’s a lot of food… and the rain, how very convenient. Imagine eating while holding an umbrella. That will totally ruin my meal.
wow…this is amazing!
It looks like it was raining too. Amazing…
I asked my HK student about this. His family is from China and has land there.
He says this is not really a wedding but a town annual celebration. They call it a “wedding” but it is not a wedding like we know it. This is a town where everyone has the same last name, so it is more like a family party. There would be no gate crashers because Everyone knows Everyone else. If they have to use the bathroom, they just go home. It does not matter if it rains, because it is a specially picked auspicious day. It cannot be changed easily.
This is a fairly poor town. The yellow banner has the town name. The third character on the right is the word “town”. The blue banner next to it says “driving lessons”. Right over the wall might be a richer area of the city, where there are taller buildings.
In the middle of one picture where people are eating, there is a large pot on a crate. This would contain rice. It is elevated because food cannot go on the ground. The teapot is on the ground and that is ok.
They must have chicken at a dinner like this. Chicken is a symbol of prosperity, in remembrance of a time when they did not have a chicken to eat. The other dishes down below the chicken are pork, then beef with turnips, green beans and chicken, and a dish with shrimp.
The large brick cookers are common. Sometimes they build a big fire to heat them up, then pull the fire out and put in a chicken or some sweet potatoes. They cook very quickly and he says they are very good!
Hi Ainwa: Thanks for the enlightening comments. You sure did put a lot of context around these pictures. Ben
I agree with Ben.. thanks for the interesting information!
That is totally awesome..should go in the Guiness Book of World Records! That makeshift kitchen is inspiring! However, I don’t see a sink or tap with running water……
The photos and Ainwa’s comment are really cool. I love these sorts of cultural articles.
I think that’s not a wedding banquet and i guess that’s an anual dinner of a factory in China. I’ll try to ask someone where it is.
I’m going to send you a wonderful wedding car line in China.
Here’s a video of the banquet!
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzQ0MDk1ODQ=.html
I think it’s for the annual Dragon Boat celebrations. Someone who can read Chinese can translate for us???
Oh yeah … it’s 608 tables!!!