Jacky told us Waston was having a welcoming party for us on Thursday night. "For the whole family." Not knowing the culture and what to expect, we asked what the dress code was: "business casual". That was a loose term because we were easily the best dressed. Besides President and Mr. Hu, everyone was in jeans, t-shirts, tennis shoes etc. We didn't feel over dressed, but it was just very interesting to observe since it was a very classy event.
It was at the Sheraton and we arrived with wide eyes and with no idea what to expect! I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to; the girls thought it too much of a spectacle, but I'll share the few that I got.
It didn't start with any fanfare. After the servers had all of the drinks poured, President Hu just started dishing up his plate and began eating.
The food was very fancy! It was on a turn table in the center; and you turned it and took what you wanted onto your own plate (Chinese family style). We had no idea how it would roll out: how much to eat, how much we should eat, whether we were being polite or not.... In hind sight we should have eaten less at the beginning and saved room for the main courses. They had appetizers and then they started bringing out dish after dish, after dish, after dish, after dish. We were filled to overflowing before the last round came. It was all very delicious! I want some recipes! I wished I would have taken many more pictures. (And I'm thankful that I only used chopsticks in my eating during quarantine even though I took a fork. Here chopsticks were my only option. I'm still not very good with them, but I only dropped the lobster in my lap and I did manage to get full!)
These were appetizers:
Here is one of the main dishes. Starting on the far left and going counter clockwise: a very delicious rice noodle dish with chicken. Thankfully Sherry was able to find a recipe and has already sent it to us. Next is a lobster dish---shells and all--apparently just cut apart neatly with a cleaver and put back in order on the dish. It was very flavorful. Next is a kind of smoked pork/bacon, you can dip it in the hot chili oil if desired. Next is a beef stir fry with veggies. Then there is a beef noodle soup. I can't tell nor remember the next one. The top one is lily root. They looked like garlic bulbs but were petals. You pulled it off petal by petal to eat. They were the texture of a potato, but slightly sweet. In the center were crispy somethings with a sweet and spicy sauce (this was Greta's favorite) and some roasted duck. In the empty spot they brought out a green vegetable dish and fried rice right after I took this picture.
This was one of the last dishes brought out and we were beyond stuffed. But President Hu wanted us to try it. So he scooped some out for us (just take a spoon and dig into the side of the fish and plop it on your plate; easy peasy). Beware of bones! It was good, though!
During the meal, the toasting began. Most everyone had small shot cups (about the size of our glass Sacrament cups) and their own personal pitcher of white alcohol that was refilled as often as you needed. We understand that this has a very high alcohol content. Many people had beer. Some had wine. Some had tea. We had a cup of hot water or water bottles. President Hu first toasted Tom and said "Welcome." To toast you tapped glasses and took a drink. Then President Hu reached over to me and clicked my water bottle and said "Welcome." After we had eaten a little, President Hu got out of his chair and went around to each one at our table and toasted, then he went around to all of the tables and toasted each person. After more food was gone, groups from each table came over and toasted Tom. There was a tapping order as to where you tapped glasses with who, but we never figured it out! We just held out the water bottle and let them tap in the right spot.
Then groups came over and toasted President Hu again.
And then at another point Mr. Hu came and got Tom and took him around to each table to toast everyone. At another point the manager and office staff from the hotel came in and toasted President Hu (this event was very very expensive in the alcohol alone and they probably wanted to thank him!). Then they came to the 4 of us and welcomed us to China.
Tom and I wondered how long this was going to go and how we would know when it was over. We didn't know how drunk everyone was, but the chatter and laughter definitely got louder as the night progressed. I kept watching WJ to see if his alcohol consumption was minimal. As far as I could tell he only drank Pepsi. He probably would have loved the free expensive alcohol, but he didn't drink much if any and I was very very thankful. Then they brought out a fruit plate.
After that had gone around, President Hu leaned over to Tom and told him he could leave. When we stood up, WJ jumped up and went and got the van. And that was the night! That was definitely an experience we don't have every day!
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