Chinese New Year will soon be here and among the traditions is a top-to-bottom clean up at home. In the local dialect (Taishanese), the phrase translates to roughly "hit dust". The local merchants all have long, colorful brooms displayed for sale and the past few weekends, we've targeted specific areas for clean up.
Another popular custom is weddings before the New Year. My brother-in-law complained a few days ago about his wallet being empty so soon before his next paycheck. The reason? He had been invited to 6 weddings this month as he is at the age where many of his peers (friends, former schoolmates, former coworkers, etc.) are getting married.
In American culture, the bride and groom will make a gift registry for the items they need to start their lives together. Chinese culture dispenses with that completely -- wedding guests give cash in a
red envelope. Back in the United States, our custom was to at least give enough to pay for the food served. A typical wedding banquet might cost $350 (before tip) per table which seats 10. So if we took up 4 seats, we would give at least $160 -- more for closer friends and relatives. Here in China, the cost of wedding banquests might be 1000 RMB ($147 USD) per table. If we used the same formula, we'd give 400 RMB but since we're the "rich foreigners", we usually give a decent chunk more. For my brother-in-law, he usually gives 100 RMB as his invitations usually do not include his wife and baby daughter.
And since he drives a car, he is always requested to help
fetch the bride as more cars and more people translate to more respect for the groom. Even if both bride and groom live/work in the main city, traditional Chinese custom says the bride spends the night at her parents' home and then be taken to the groom's parents' home on the day of the wedding. All in all, I estimate he spends 25-50 RMB in gas every time he has to participate in a wedding.
So for January, my brother-in-law had a big hole in his budget in the tune of about 825 RMB ($120). Even for many struggling Americans in these economic times, $120 in unexpected expenses can be a drain on the budget. But for a resident of Taishan where the average salary ranges from 1500 RMB to 2500 RMB, that's a huge percentage of income (55% to 33%). After hearing his cries for sympathy, we ended up giving him his Chinese New Year lucky money early this year.
(Filed in china, spending)
Wedding Costs ... as Guests
Posted by Mossy
February 4, 2010 7:23 AM
Another popular custom is weddings before the New Year. My brother-in-law complained a few days ago about his wallet being empty so soon before his next paycheck. The reason? He had been invited to 6 weddings this month as he is at the age where many of his peers (friends, former schoolmates, former coworkers, etc.) are getting married.
In American culture, the bride and groom will make a gift registry for the items they need to start their lives together. Chinese culture dispenses with that completely -- wedding guests give cash in a red envelope. Back in the United States, our custom was to at least give enough to pay for the food served. A typical wedding banquet might cost $350 (before tip) per table which seats 10. So if we took up 4 seats, we would give at least $160 -- more for closer friends and relatives. Here in China, the cost of wedding banquests might be 1000 RMB ($147 USD) per table. If we used the same formula, we'd give 400 RMB but since we're the "rich foreigners", we usually give a decent chunk more. For my brother-in-law, he usually gives 100 RMB as his invitations usually do not include his wife and baby daughter.
And since he drives a car, he is always requested to help fetch the bride as more cars and more people translate to more respect for the groom. Even if both bride and groom live/work in the main city, traditional Chinese custom says the bride spends the night at her parents' home and then be taken to the groom's parents' home on the day of the wedding. All in all, I estimate he spends 25-50 RMB in gas every time he has to participate in a wedding.
So for January, my brother-in-law had a big hole in his budget in the tune of about 825 RMB ($120). Even for many struggling Americans in these economic times, $120 in unexpected expenses can be a drain on the budget. But for a resident of Taishan where the average salary ranges from 1500 RMB to 2500 RMB, that's a huge percentage of income (55% to 33%). After hearing his cries for sympathy, we ended up giving him his Chinese New Year lucky money early this year.
(Filed in china, spending)
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