this place because I invested money to buy an apartment some years ago. It should be built on a mountain overlooking the sea. I still vividly remember everything about this brochure, even though it is ages ago today.
Despite Daniel's warnings, Hong surprisingly agreed that we go to Thailand.
“I want to see where your money is gone”, she smiled.
That night, we booked the holiday online, using a Chinese travel agency. Hong pulled out her credit card to pay, but it did not work at first. In an angry mood, she banged the keyboard, asking herself what the problem was, but after trying a couple of times, the payment went through.
In China, employers are generous in approving additional holidays. For wedding, I got 10 vacation days from HR department.
I should get only three, as I was married before, but they ignored this law. In Germany, a special holiday you get is generally on your wedding day. The reason for the Chinese's flexibility on allowing generous holidays, is likely to bet that people get married early, perhaps get children, from which the state would benefit, for the pension fund. But I am not a Chinese…
That time, I was thinking about the Chinese emperor in Dietfurt near Eichstätt in Bavaria, Germany. Sometimes such spontaneous thoughts come my way. I told Hong how the Dietfurt population hid under the wall when the Bishop of Eichstätt wanted to collect taxes.
"Coward like the Chinese," the bishop scolded them, and since then a Chinese emperor with a concubine and carriages ruled there for fun, not just for the annual carnival.4
It is cold and wet outside. According to the weather forecast, we expect snow tomorrow. Whatever the weather will be, I will have to go to the bank, to invest my savings on interest. Although in China, banks open even on bank holidays, Hong advises me to go on the first working day, after the Chinese New Year, because it is when banks will charge low-interest rates. While she was telling me this, I noticed that something was not well with her. She seemed to be in excruciating pain. Around this time of the month, she usually experiences the same problem due to her menstrual cycles. As if unconcerned with pain, she pulled out her phone to show me a new app which shows the best time when to have a child, and when one should be careful not just to conceive when you are not ready. On opening the app, her dates were matching.
But wait a minute, I thought it was the very Hong who said after the incident of knocking down a dog a few days ago, that this horse year was not good to have children! Why is she now thinking about children, and showing me the app? I asked myself inwardly. I was perplexed because she said herself that she did not want to have children in a polluted environment like that of China. But I did not mind much about it. I would find out from my in-laws whether they also supported the idea of not having children outside of China.
The night of the fifth day after the New Year was time to remember. A loud whistle of the remaining fireworks works was blown, to honour and celebrate the birth of the God of property. I know that for the European reading this now, you should be surprised to hear of the worshipping of GOD here since religions is not a popular ideology in China. Many Chinese believe in Buddha and Taoism, where there are many different gods. There is also the God of marriage, and Guan Yin–Pusa, Goddess of compassion.
Godness of compassion observes all the sounds of suffering in the world and gives children to humanity and their supervision.
My father-in-law’s’ birthday coincides with the Chinese New Year' today, so we shall "kill two birds with one stone ", celebrating the fifth day of the New Year, as well as his birthday. Hong told me that every Chinese gets an extra year older, according to the Chinese lunar calendar. If you take this tradition closely, it would mean that every Chinese gets two birthdays in a year. However, this custom is slowly fading away; it is being celebrated mostly by the older generation. The young age follows the Western calendar, and therefore, they celebrate this day every year on the same date.
I check on my emails regularly. Being a busy person, I sometimes wake up at night to do that. On New Year's Day, I received an email from Germany, requesting for some calculations, and yesterday I received another one asking whether I had done the calculations. I had sent a note to my bosses that I would be absent for some days, until the seventh of February after the celebrations.
Hong asked me what present we were going to buy for her father's birthday. She prefered flowers. I had a different opinion. I was thinking of buying a grey jacket from Germany, but I was not sure whether Hong would like it. However, Li Gengnan, prefers an egg clock, and kitchen utensils. Getting all these presents wouldn't have been a problem, because many shops in China are open on bank holidays, but time was not on our side. The party was starting in a few hours, followed by lunch dinner. I quickly put on my suit, grabbed Hong to head for the nearby flower shop. Thick fog and the slowly fading cloud of last night's fireworks were still hovering above. When we came back from the shops, guests were already arriving at my in-law's place. Some were sitting on the couch in the living room.
Hong gives me the red envelopes with banknotes inside that I have to hand over to the children. Everybody was thankful. The Presence of elders of the family at the party is something that will make them proud. Hong and I present our presents, the bouquet and Grey Jacket in the restaurant. Party gifts are not bound by particular rules. You give what you can. Children from low-income families get freebies such as pens, books and other small items that would fit within the budget of the one buying the gift. Wealthier families, however, spend as much as they want, with whatever they can. I prefer everyone to be present when opening a gift, give a handshake, to who has given it to me rather than thanking them on the phone or otherwise. The typical procedure here, though, is to unwrap gifts after people have left, I disagree with it. There is something that seems strange for us Europeans when it comes to donating gifts.
In China, when you invite someone, traditionally you are obliged to present a gift. Above all, you must also include a receipt of the item you bought, especially in the case of gifts to children. It is done to make sure that when people get children in future, they would also receive presents of the same value, as those which they donated.
The party is going on. Children have been playing and screaming for the last three hours now. Bottles of rice liquor are slowly going down throats of guests. Food leftovers are happily packed to be taken home by whoever wants to. After many had left that evening, we continued as a family gulping down beers while enjoying the food too. After the party celebrations, Hong, her father, and two of the family acquaintances start playing Mahjong, a tile game, very popular in China. Mahjong is believed to have widely spread after 1905, taking over Chess.
I asked Hong why Mahjong is a game for only four people. "It's just a matter of only people being able to play." She replied. I am only a foreigner I don't know the rules of this game, that is why I had to ask. Wang, one of the family acquaintances, is an old army friend of Li Gengnan. They have been friends for a very long time since days when they were working in northern China. Wang is a Buddhist; he is a vegetarian and lives with monks.
He lives in a temple in Suzhou, working as a driver in a Germany company that I know as well.
"The only difference is that Wang has hair on his head, which is very rare for monks" Hong observed amusedly.
After spending time with guests, I am getting bored. I decide to go to the living room and have a look at birthday gifts. These gifts are somehow different from those given out in Germany. These are kiwis, apples, and many other types of fruits. Nuts are also part of the gifts given out. Every gift is expensive, of high quality, and nicely packaged. There is another wrap of a bouquet.
Hong joins me in the living room and took the opportunity to ask me to teach her the right way to do reverse parking on the curb.
She
