Of kidnapping, catwalks and too many cigarettes Για απαγωγές, πασαρέλες και πολλά τσιγάρα Van ontvoering, catwalks en te veel sigaretten De raptos, passerelles e demasiados cigarros 绑架、走秀和太多香烟 绑架、走秀和太多香烟

Hi there, this is Owen and this is my podcast for Friday 30th January, 2015. We are approaching another New Year here – Chinese New Year. Estamos a aproximar-nos de mais um Ano Novo - o Ano Novo Chinês. Spring Festival, as it is also called, is the most important holiday in China. A Festa da primavera, como também é chamada, é o feriado mais importante da China. People are starting to put up the first decorations, which are lots and lots of red lanterns. As pessoas estão a começar a colocar as primeiras decorações, que são muitas e muitas lanternas vermelhas. 人们开始挂上第一批装饰品，也就是很多很多的红灯笼。 In the past, I've spent the holiday in China. No passado, passei as férias na China. This year, though, I won't. This year I'm going to Ecuador for a holiday with my girlfriend. She has family in Ecuador and her family is celebrating a big family reunion on the Galapagos Islands. So while the Chinese will be letting off fireworks, I'll be soaking up [1] the sun in South America. Assim, enquanto os chineses soltam fogo de artifício, eu aproveito [1] o sol na América do Sul. 因此，当中国人燃放烟花时，我则会在南美沐浴[1]阳光。 I'll tell you all about it in a future episode. Today's topic, though, is a Chinese wedding I attended recently.

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A couple of weeks ago I was having dinner with my Chinese friend Leo at a Sichuan restaurant. Leo's friend John and his fiancée [2] were also having dinner there and so they joined us. O amigo do Leo, John, e a sua noiva [2] também estavam a jantar lá e juntaram-se a nós. It turned out that John and his bride-to-be were going to get married the next week. Afinal, o João e a sua futura noiva iam casar-se na semana seguinte. We talked a little about weddings and different wedding traditions and I mentioned that I'd never been to a Chinese wedding. Of course I was hoping that they might invite me to their wedding and they actually did! I was very pleased and I asked them: “So when is the wedding?” They answered: “Next Monday.” I was a little surprised. Who gets married on a Monday? It turned out, though, that that particular Monday was a lucky day on the Lunar Calendar. No entanto, verificou-se que aquela segunda-feira em particular era um dia de sorte no Calendário Lunar. 但事实证明，那个星期一是农历吉日。 The couple were very nice and wanted to give me the whole experience of a Chinese wedding. O casal era muito simpático e queria proporcionar-me toda a experiência de um casamento chinês. This meant that I was invited to join them for the whole day. Isto significa que fui convidado a juntar-me a eles durante todo o dia. So on that Monday Leo and I set off early in the morning to the south of Kunming where the wedding was taking place. Assim, nessa segunda-feira, o Leo e eu partimos de manhã cedo para o sul de Kunming, onde se realizava o casamento. Both the bride and the groom [3] are from Hunan, which is a province east of here, but they have lived in Kunming for a long time. Most of their families and friends on the other hand had arrived from Hunan and were all staying in a big hotel. A maior parte das suas famílias e amigos, por outro lado, tinham chegado de Hunan e estavam todos alojados num grande hotel. In the lobby of the hotel all the groom's friends had gathered [4] for the traditional ‘kidnapping' of the bride. No átrio do hotel, todos os amigos do noivo se tinham reunido [4] para o tradicional "rapto" da noiva. They kept telling me: “Now we will kidnap the bride.” But what we actually did was more like buy the bride. Eles estavam sempre a dizer-me: "Agora vamos raptar a noiva." Mas o que fizemos de facto foi mais comprar a noiva. Money plays a big part in Chinese weddings. O dinheiro desempenha um papel importante nos casamentos chineses. Cigarettes as well but more on that later. Os cigarros também, mas falaremos disso mais tarde. All of the men were given about 20 hongbao, which are special red envelopes with money inside. Todos os homens receberam cerca de 20 hongbao, que são envelopes vermelhos especiais com dinheiro dentro. The bride and her family, luckily, were staying in the same hotel, so we didn't have to go very far. When we got to the bride's room we knocked on the door. When the door opened all the bridesmaids [5] stood in the doorway blocking the entrance. Quando a porta se abriu, todas as damas de honor [5] ficaram no vão da porta a bloquear a entrada. Before they let us into the room, we had to answer lots of questions about the bride and the couple. When and where they met, for example, or her date of birth. Of course I had no clue what was going on. Throughout this whole questioning we were also bribing [6] them with our red envelopes. Durante todo este interrogatório, também os subornámos [6] com os nossos envelopes vermelhos. Eventually they let us into the room. Por fim, deixaram-nos entrar no quarto. The bride was wearing a traditional red Chinese wedding dress including a head piece. A noiva usava um vestido de noiva tradicional chinês vermelho, incluindo um toucado. At this point the groom had to carry the bride downstairs. Nesta altura, o noivo teve de carregar a noiva para baixo. In the past, apparently, there would have been a special chair to transport the bride. Antigamente, ao que parece, havia uma cadeira especial para transportar a noiva. On this occasion there was a fleet [7] of very fancy cars waiting for her. Nesta ocasião, havia uma frota [7] de carros muito elegantes à sua espera. We all got into the cars and made our way to the groom's house. Entrámos todos nos carros e dirigimo-nos para a casa do noivo. At the groom's house we sat around drinking tea before we all went for a big lunch together. Em casa do noivo, sentámo-nos a beber chá antes de irmos todos almoçar juntos.

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The actual ceremony took place in the evening. A cerimónia propriamente dita teve lugar ao fim da tarde. About 400 people were invited. I was the only foreigner and I was the only guest dressed in a suit. As the guests arrived, they had to sign a book with their best wishes for the couple. À medida que os convidados chegavam, tinham de assinar um livro com os seus melhores votos para o casal. Then they all put the hongbao in a big box. Depois, todos põem o hongbao numa caixa grande. People don't give gifts at weddings in China these days. People give money. Inside the room where the ceremony took place there was a big stage with a catwalk. On each side of the catwalk were the tables where all the guests were seated. Once everyone was seated the show began. Depois de todos estarem sentados, o espetáculo começou. It started with a short clip about the couple projected onto a big screen on the stage accompanied by loud pop music and lights. Then the bride, now dressed in white with her father beside her, walked the length of the catwalk to where her future husband was waiting. Depois, a noiva, agora vestida de branco e com o pai ao seu lado, percorreu o comprimento da passerelle até ao local onde o futuro marido a esperava. The groom was given a microphone to say his vows [8]. O noivo recebeu um microfone para dizer os seus votos [8]. Then the ring bearers [9] arrived, the rings were exchanged and the couple walked back down the catwalk together and on to the stage with the wedding march blasting [10]. Em seguida, chegaram os portadores das alianças [9], as alianças foram trocadas e o casal voltou a descer a passerelle juntos e a subir ao palco com a marcha nupcial a tocar [10]. Throughout the whole ceremony there was man with a microphone commentating everything that was happening. Durante toda a cerimónia, havia um homem com um microfone a comentar tudo o que se passava. On the stage the couple were joined by their parents and gifts were exchanged. It was all more of a show with many elements taken from other types of weddings, such as her dress and the music. Foi mais um espetáculo com muitos elementos retirados de outros tipos de casamentos, como o seu vestido e a música. 这更像是一场表演，其中融入了许多来自其他类型婚礼的元素，例如她的礼服和音乐。 What was also striking was that the groom's parents took a very central role in the whole show, especially the groom's father. O que também chamou a atenção foi o facto de os pais do noivo terem um papel muito central em todo o espetáculo, especialmente o pai do noivo. 同样引人注目的是，新郎的父母在整个节目中扮演着非常重要的角色，尤其是新郎的父亲。 After the couple had left the stage, he stayed to give a speech. Depois de o casal ter abandonado o palco, ele ficou para discursar. I also had the impression that many of the guests were either friends or business partners of the groom's father. Também fiquei com a impressão de que muitos dos convidados eram amigos ou parceiros de negócios do pai do noivo. To me it seemed to be a big occasion where size mattered most. Para mim, parecia ser uma grande ocasião em que o tamanho era mais importante. 对我来说，这似乎是一个规模最重要的重大场合。 The number of guests, the stage, the show, the food. It all had to be big.

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The one thing I was left with after the wedding was a very sore throat. A única coisa que me deixou depois do casamento foi uma dor de garganta muito forte. I don't think I have ever smoked so many cigarettes in a day. Acho que nunca fumei tantos cigarros num dia. All day long, starting first thing in the morning, people were offering each other cigarettes. And you could not refuse, because the cigarettes they offered were supposed to bring good fortune. It would have been very impolite to refuse. How cigarettes can bring good fortune is still a mystery to me. During both lunch and dinner there were lots of packs of cigarettes on the tables. And after signing the book with your good wishes for the couple at the reception, you were given a pack of cigarettes in return. By the end of the day I had a cigarette behind each ear, one in each hand and my pockets were stuffed with good fortune. No final do dia, tinha um cigarro atrás de cada orelha, um em cada mão e os meus bolsos estavam cheios de boa sorte. That everything was about quantity reminded me of a story a friend once told me about his wedding. O facto de tudo estar relacionado com a quantidade fez-me lembrar uma história que um amigo me contou sobre o seu casamento. 一切都与数量有关，这让我想起一位朋友曾经告诉我的关于他婚礼的故事。 He's French and his wife is Chinese. For their wedding in China, his parents flew over from France. Para o seu casamento na China, os seus pais vieram de França. And with them they brought a couple of nice bottles of champagne. 他们还带来了几瓶香槟。 The wedding wasn't a very big occasion, mainly the bride's family. O casamento não foi uma ocasião muito grande, sobretudo para a família da noiva. Her hometown is in the countryside in the south of China. After the ceremony his parents opened the bottles of champagne and carefully poured [11] a little champagne for everyone. 仪式结束后，他的父母打开了香槟酒瓶，并小心翼翼地为每个人倒了[11]一点香槟。 But before they could raise their glasses one of the bride's Chinese uncles looked at the glasses and must have thought to himself, that's not enough, because he grabbed a bottle of Chinese beer and topped up all the glasses with beer. Mas antes que pudessem levantar os copos, um dos tios chineses da noiva olhou para os copos e deve ter pensado para si próprio que não era suficiente, porque pegou numa garrafa de cerveja chinesa e encheu todos os copos com cerveja. 但还没等他们举起酒杯，新娘的一位中国叔叔看着酒杯，心里肯定在想，这还不够，因为他抓起一瓶中国啤酒，把所有的酒杯都倒满了啤酒。 As you can imagine, the French were horrified.

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After my second podcast, Marielle asked how they clean the sky in Beijing. Depois do meu segundo podcast, a Marielle perguntou-me como é que limpam o céu em Pequim. Well, one of the ways is to reduce the number of cars on the streets. They do this by only allowing cars with number plates ending with certain numbers to drive on certain days. So for example only cars with number plates ending with the numbers 1, 3 and 8 are allowed to drive on Mondays and Wednesdays. Assim, por exemplo, apenas os automóveis com matrículas que terminem com os números 1, 3 e 8 podem circular às segundas e quartas-feiras. The other thing they do is to temporarily close factories in and around Beijing. A outra coisa que fazem é encerrar temporariamente as fábricas em Pequim e arredores. Hebei is the province which surrounds [12] Beijing. And the largest industries in Hebei are steel and iron manufacturing. E as maiores indústrias de Hebei são o fabrico de aço e de ferro. So, when necessary, they shut down all manufacturing for a few days. Assim, quando necessário, encerram toda a produção durante alguns dias. Lastly, they pray for some wind to blow all the pollution away. Por fim, rezam para que o vento sopre toda a poluição. Although I won't be in China to celebrate the Chinese New Year, I'm very fortunate because a Chinese friend of mine has invited me to his home in the coming days before I leave for the Galapagos Islands. Embora não vá estar na China para celebrar o Ano Novo Chinês, tenho muita sorte porque um amigo chinês convidou-me para ir a sua casa nos próximos dias, antes de partir para as Ilhas Galápagos. His hometown is in the south-east of Yunnan, very close to the Vietnamese border. And I'm fortunate because his family and friends will hold a Spring Festival celebration for me a few weeks before the actual Chinese New Year. E eu tenho sorte porque a família e os amigos dele vão organizar uma celebração do Festival da primavera para mim algumas semanas antes do verdadeiro Ano Novo Chinês. His hometown is in the countryside so I'm hoping to experience a traditional Chinese New Year. A sua cidade natal fica no campo, pelo que espero viver um Ano Novo chinês tradicional. That's what I'll be talking about next time on 27th February. I hope you will have a listen. Espero que o ouçam. You can use the Podclub app to do so or go to our website www.podclub.ch. Until then, have a wonderful month. Bye!

Glossaire: Owen in China [1] soaking up: here: spending time enjoying something

[2] fiancée: the woman you are engaged to get married to

[3] bride and groom: woman and man getting married

[4] gathered: came together

[5] bridesmaids: young women who support the bride before and during the wedding

[6] bribing: giving money to someone to do something they shouldn't

[7] fleet: a group of vehicles

[8] vows: promises made to each other at a wedding

[9] ring bearer: person at a wedding who carries the rings before they are exchanged

[10] blasting: playing very loudly

[11] poured: filled glasses with