Ｍｙ Ｗｅｄｄｉｎｇ ｉｎ Ｒａｉｎ Ｆｏｒｅｓｔ

Nanke-nanba is a river beach in the Xishuangbanna rain forest. The local Aini ethnic people call it Nanke-nanba Cong， the last syllable referring to a confluence where two rivers join each other. Nanke-nanba is where the Luosuo River empties into the Lancang River. My bride Jin Wu and I chose the rain forest for our honeymoon for purely economic reasons: after we went through the marriage registration， we found we had only 200 yuan left. With that money， we bought a piece of dyed cotton cloth for 20 yuan and with that cloth a friend of Jin Wu made me a wedding dress free of charge. The rest of the cash went for cigarettes， candies， melon seeds and we distributed them among friends and relatives， announcing our marriage. We had a 9-m2 attic room in a dilapidated courtyard residence in Beijing， but we were not able to buy new furniture. Fortunately， Jin Wu had made some friends in Xishuangbanna during his journalist work. And it happened that he would go there again. So we decided to enjoy our honeymoon by traveling and living in the rainforest. We would first visit a motorboat skipper on the Lancang River and then a friend who was operating a tea plantation in the primeval forest. To reach the plantation， we must first camp at Nanke-nanba for a night. Unexpectedly， it was the night on the river beach that we held the wedding banquet and Jin Wu and I consummated our marriage.

One February morning， we started our journey on a motorboat from Yunjinghong， the capital of Xishuangbanna. The motorboat went downstream for 40 kilometers before we reached Nanke-nanba. The sun was setting and the broad river was bathed in dazzling gold hues. The smooth beach with fine sands looked extremely poetic. All the men became busy， preparing for the night meal and camping. I wandered around excitedly， enjoying the celestial beauty of the rainforest. The river valley was painted golden. The beach was hemmed in by the towering peaks as if it was the only smooth place in this world. On the beach， Jin Wu was the only man I had known for a long while. The rest were all new friends. They said jokingly that they would not acknowledge Jin Wu and me as husband and wife unless we held a wedding banquet at the beach that night.

Zhou offered to be the wedding emcee as we were heading toward his tea plantation in the forest. I had been on the motorboat for a day， knowing we did not carry much food. I wondered aloud where we could find wine and food.

The skipper and his crew jumped into the water where the two rivers joined. They fished with hands and a net. They looked like cormorants. Pretty soon， they threw a dozen fish onto the beach. It happened that the catch was 12 fish in six pairs of different species. I thought happily that even fish were caught in pairs in a season of love.

It darkened. A bonfire was kindled. We sat around the fire and boiled some fish in water and roasted some on the fire. Someone made a salad with herbs garnered in the wilderness. Someone made wine cups and chopsticks by cutting and chopping bamboo shafts. Someone poured rice into bamboo bars and sealed them off before throwing them into the fire to cook. Miraculously， the wedding banquet was ready. We sat on the rocks polished smooth by the river waves and we were lit by the bonfire.

As the banquet came to end， the beach was already bathed in the moonlight. A makeshift hut was erected with bamboo and wild banana leaves. Jin Wu and I stepped into the wedding chamber. The rest of them went back to the motorboat for the night. The slanting silver moonlight cascaded through the banana leaves onto our bedding on the ground. The bonfire was kept burning on the beach.

We woke up in daylight， hearing loud squeaks and chirps of birds. A large spider scuttled away in a hurry from under our sheets. A black dog came out of nowhere， wagging its tail excitedly in front of the hut. I called it in. The dog licked our naked feet. It then trotted timidly upon us and went through the wall and vanished.

In the sunshine we shook hands with the skipper and crew and said goodbye. Zhou led us to trek to his plantation. On the edge of the bamboo grove， Zhou said from there on we could not see the river. Jin Wu and I stopped and looked back to see our hut. Some Rhododendron shrubby trees blocked the hut out of our sight. We entered the thick bamboo forest. The sun was blocked out by thick foliage and we could detect the pungent odor of animal droppings. The path did not look like a path at all. I saw some animal spoors and huge droppings. I was nervous and asked if we could run into any animals.

Zhou explained， “The huge heaps were left over by elephants. Elephants， buffalos and red deer drink at the river at night. They sleep during daytime. The skipper and I kept vigil last night on the beach for fear that animals might come to your hut. We saw three pairs of green eyes in small hours. As bright as small flashlights. Three red deer. They smelt the human odor and went away.”

We had slept soundly in the hut without any idea how many tiny wild creatures had crept into our wedding chamber. What if an elephant had come? Thinking my thoughts， I tested a heap of elephant dropping timidly with my foot and quickened my pace to follow.

It was our first night in the rainforest.□