Not wanting to miss out on this incredible experience we accepted their gracious offer, which in reality they weren't really allowing us to refuse, and we were led into the groom's parent's house to sit with all the most important guests of the dinner. Apart from being overwhelmed by the cultural experience at the time, I was very excited for the food. I personally love home cooked food, being one of the biggest things I miss since leaving the United States. Me and other friends of mine from the US often talk about the food we miss, and we always seem to come to the topic of Thanksgiving dinner where we all get to eat amazing home cooked food until we can't possibly eat any more. This dinner is the closest I have come to that feeling since I arrived in China. We are sitting around the table talking to everyone about where we are from, why we came to China, and how we arrived in their village, and then the food starts arriving. The dinner was amazing, all of the dishes that were served were placed over top of a pot of boiling soup: pork belly, another pork dish, duck, fish, and a side dish of pickled vegetables that remains one of my favorite dishes in China even up to the day I am writing this story. After all of the dishes were consumed we ate the soup, which contained many parts of animals that you will never find on a dish in the United States, but the meal just wouldn't feel right without them. During dinner we were also fortunate enough to receive a few visits from the host of the dinner, the father of the groom, traditionally the host of the dinner will carry around a container of rice wine and toast with every table. I knew he was doing a fantastic job because when I left the dinner later that night he was still working his way around to every table and he was quite a bit drunk by that point. The rice wine was another real treat that night, homemade and very tasty, and I found myself having drank quite a bit by the end of dinner. Chinese people while at the dinner table will keep toasting the whole time, and the alcohol never seems to run out, as if it is being magically refilled when no one is looking. At the end of dinner my friend and me were both on the slightly drunk side from all the rice wine, and we had mere hours to get back to Yangshuo by bike to return the bicycles to the rental company and catch the bus.

After dinner was over the older sister of the groom took us to a side room for the last ritual of the wedding dinner party, giving a traditional red envelope (hongbao) to the bride and groom as a wedding gift. Everyone that attends the dinner does this, usually writing a short message on the envelope and putting some money inside. Once the money was stuffed and the message was written (requiring more than a few consultations of my iPhone dictionary) we both received a small gift bag from the hosts and we had to get ready to part ways. We made our way out the door and stopped by to say goodbye to the host, and at his request drink another cup of rice wine.