On a recent Saturday, while the girls went to a KTV place for karaoke with the other
youth from church, Kevin and I had some time to kill, so
we walked down Tianjin's equivalent to 5th Avenue: BinJiang Dao.
The stores are upscale, but there were also some cheap places.
Kevin got a leather wallet for 58 kuai--or just under $10.
But we are not real shoppers.
It's more fun just seeing
what everyone else is doing on this walking street,
which by the way is somewhat of a misnomer because "trolleys"
--small trucks with benches in the back for tired pedestrians--come barreling through
and you'd better be aware of them and get out of the way!
Suddenly, in the middle of the walking street appears
a couple, dressed to the max, with a couple of stuffed giraffes.
I'm not sure if they were modeling for a brochure or if these were their wedding photos.
Weddings are a REALLY big deal here
and the wedding business are huge.
You can rent Cinderella's carriage,
unless you'd prefer more traditional transportation.
This is an enclosed chair carried by 4 men.
I didn't get the picture until after the bride had entered
the Buddhist temple (this was at Drum Tower Street).
We often see wedding caravans of rented red cars (red means good luck), with a
minivan leading the procession--with the back open and
a videographer recording the whole thing.
Rich people might have red BMW's (or even red Porsche's), but usually they are Toyota Camry's or Corollas. Depends on how much you want to spend.
And in the end, you are just as married if
you spend a little or a lot. To my way of thinking, I would
rather have the money for setting up a nice household,
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