The red qipao from Suzhou

I can’t go through old photos without finding some I have’t seen in two decades. Recently I came across a couple photos from my wedding in China 21 years ago. I had the worst time finding a red qipao in China back then. After combing through stores on Nanjing Road and Huaihai Lu in Shanghai, I thought I’d never find a qipao. I also looked in Wuhan, but came up with nothing. Then a quick trip to the Suzhou Silk Museum, which I write about in Good Chinese Wife, and bingo!

They were selling one red qipao.

So I took it without trying it on and luckily it fit, more or less. These photos are from my wedding in Hidden River in Hubei province.

And these are from half a year later when I was in Chicago for a reception my parents held. The qipao barely fit then, so thank goodness for my mom’s white shawl. I hid behind it all evening.

I still have this red qipao, but haven’t worn it out since that Chicago wedding reception in 1995.