用英語說中國家庭生活 第3期:中式婚宴
Wedding Reception in Chinese Society
In Chinese society, the wedding reception is known as xi-jiu, (literally joyful wine)，and is far more important than the wedding itself which tends to be a brief civil ceremony.
在中國社會，中式婚宴即喜酒，（字面上說是高興的酒），比婚禮本身更重要，因爲這相當於小型的民間儀式。The timing and the characteristics of the reception vary strongly from local to local.
婚宴的時間和特徵在地域上有明顯的不同。
They are typically extremely elaborate and expensive，often costing several years salary of the groom’s family.
典型的婚宴是精心佈置而且非常昂貴的，通常需要花費新郎家幾年的薪水。However, because cash in the form of red envelopes and jewelry (particulariy gold) are given as wedding presents, and because the wedding hosts keep very careful track of the cost of the gifts (jewelry is given wth a receipt which indicates the actual cost of the gift)，the cost of the reception is effectively split among the wedding guests.
然而，因爲有紅包和珠寶（特別是金子）作爲婚禮禮物，還有因爲婚禮主持會對禮物價值作記錄（珠寶的收據即使禮物的實際花費），婚宴的成本就被有效地分攤到每個婚禮客人上。Wedding receptions also build local community solidarity.
婚宴還能培養團體凝聚力。As each couple weds, their wedding reception is in effect financed with gifts from the other members of the community with the expectation that the new couple and their family will give gifts in future wedding receptions within the village.
當每對夫婦結婚時，他們的婚宴實際上是由團體中的其他成員以禮物形式資助，而團體中的其他成員則希望這對新婚夫婦和他們的家族能在將來的（其他成員的）婚宴時也送禮。
