第21期:Chinese Wedding中式婚礼 参考文本：

Weddings have always been a big affair in China. Without them you could never (legally) have the children and grandchildren that everyone wants! The first step in any wedding is to propose. If accepted, the happy couple go on to their local hospital to get a medical checkup. The bridegroom provides the new home while the bride's family donate the dowry. In traditional China, if the bride's family was wealthy the dowry might consist of two cows or a camel. Nowadays air conditioners, stereos or colour TVs are common, with upmarket gifts including 'his and her' mobile telephones, a car, or even a foreign passport. On the wedding day, couples often begin at the photo studio, getting their pictures taken before going home to put on their wedding clothes. The groom may go to pick up his blushing bride, and traditionally, she leaves her home to the setting off of fireworks. (Since real fireworks are now outlawed in big cities, these are often recorded fireworks!). In cities or towns, the wedding will usually be held in a hotel, where the couple wait to greet each guest at the door. The bridesmaid(s) and best man help their friends to perform their wedding duties. Wedding guests are seated around tables of about eight to ten and dinner usually consists of one whole chicken and one whole duck per table in addition to eight cold dishes, eight hot dishes (the number eight being a homonym for "get rich" and therefore considered auspicious), soup and dessert. During the meal, each table must propose a toast to the soon-to-be-intoxicated newlyweds, who should take a drink at each table and accept a gift of money, given in a 'lai-see' or small red envelope, for good luck. Couples these days spend an average of about $HK 100,000 for a wedding, covering every expense. When a Chinese couple gets married, everything they have when they start their lives together must be brand new. Since they have probably just spent both of their families' life-savings on their wedding, the couple can look forward to 20-some odd years of frugality until they get to do it all again for their single child!