The fireworks have been going all night and I haven’t really slept since about 3am and today is going to be a big day. After breakfast we head about 30 mins north to Lobster Town,yes that’s right Lobster Town. They breed lobster here in large quantities. This is where one of the many relatives live and the one that will host today’s events.  They live on the top floor of an apartment block. From the outside it looks like an old dreary building but inside it is tastefully decorated and it’s lovely and warm which is great.

Many family members arrive and then after about 20 mins or so everyone starts to pile out the door,  we’re leaving.  We get to the restaurant and it’s very fancy. Up to the second floor and into the large room. We take up 3 tables so I guess there must be about 40 guests or more.

There’s food already on the table which is a small selection of what’s to come.  I’m at the head table as a guest of honour and I sit beside the 2 brothers that head the family.  The first thing that’s done when we sit is that the wine is brought out, this is Chinese wine which is white spirit.

I’ve never been a lover of white spirits but this is very nice.  I’m told that it’s very strong and if I don’t want to do the bottoms up no one will be offended. But to my credit I think I kept up and I felt ok. The other thing they dished up was cigarettes.  Packets of them are dumped on the table and almost everyone lights up. This is the second thing that I don’t like here especially at meal times. The noises and ciggies. Even when I did smoke I’ve never understood why you light up between courses,  but here it’s more than that it’s like a ritual.

 

I ate most of the food that came out apart from the chicken feet and the fish. The meal was great and there was plenty of drinking done and then we all headed for the KTV or karaoke to you and me.

 

The Chinese like their karaoke and they like it loud. It was only a matter of time before I got called up but I’m afraid the choice of English songs is very small and so they pick a Lana Delray song that I’ve heard but it’s not easy to sing. The good thing is only about 3 people understand English and so I look and sound like a superstar or maybe I’ve still got to much of that white booze in my system.

It’s late afternoon and the sun is going down,  it’s been a long day.  There are a few casualties from the booze but I’m still waiting for it to kick in and do some damage but I’m feeling ok. When we get back home we have some tea and it’s back to the reality of the cold house.  But most people are tired and so it’s an early night. I listen to BBC radio 2, the wonders of the Internet and a VPN in rural china.  On another note it’s a sad day this week because after 30 years Alex Lester will not be on in the middle of the night on the BBC. I’ve listened to him for years in Australia and any other part of the world I’ve been in. Not sure what the BBC are thinking.

Anyway the fireworks have started once more as my head hits the pillow so Happy New Year.