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| Castle Howard |
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| Group shot after the rain |
When we arrived at Castle Howard it was pouring with rain. We bought tickets for the house and grounds and started our house tour away from the rain. Just when we walked up the stairs, an elderly gentleman who is one of the house guides came over and kept insisting on giving us Chinese brochures which explain to us each room in the castle as part of the tour. We kept rejecting him politely. To be honest at some point I was a bit annoyed - like why is he so stubborn. We already told him we can read and understand English, thank you but no thanks sir. Soon he started chatting with us when he found out that yes we are conversant in English and so explained to us the history of the house, the current owners, and of course without having to hint or nudge him he said "ah and of course Jay's wedding". Ooh we got interested now and tried to get some juicy gossip from him.
He got us all hooked and all 4 of us were crowding round him. He said he was indeed helping out that wedding day in January this year and they had a group of about 200 guests. He said "I've never seen anything like that before, let's just say no expense was spared!" "And of course before that we were all sworn to secrecy" he added. Jay Chou booked out the whole castle (if you are wondering, JX said it costs GBP23k to hire the entire castle. Small change for the King of Chinese Pop we say.) It was fine anyway as the castle is closed in winter. The staff had to clear out all the furniture in the different rooms and set each one up. A few of the rooms had dancers performing and he said one of the most amazing corner rooms with a high ceiling had a real tree (he had to emphasise "a real tree!") for guests to write their wishes and hang on. And with fake snow too, creating a beautiful scene. He said he would not forget that around the same time, "It started snowing outside too. No money could have timed that so well!" And the cake he said. I think he said it was something like 10 tiers (or something ridiculous like that).
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| In the grand hall |
We asked more questions like what happened in the day and he chuckled and said "ooh you know we were quite nervous before the wedding started. They were due to arrive in a horse drawn carriage to the front of the castle around 3pm. The staff have arranged everything but the couple were late. We kept hurrying them, for good reasons of course." He continued "you know horses don't like darkness too much so if Jay and his wife appeared any later when the sun had set (around 3pm in winter), the horses might get scared and just run off!" Thankfully we know nothing of that sort happened. He also said the couple was very nice and very kind too. Obviously everyone having been "sworn to secrecy", he said someone must have leaked the news because soon a crowd of about 200 fans gathered outside the castle wanting a glimpse. Jay went up to the castle staff and requested for them to prepare something warm like hot chocolate for them. Towards the end he went out to take some photos with the fans too. "A very kind young man Jay is" the house guide told us.
"So how is it now after the wedding? Do you get an influx of Asian visitors?" we asked. "Oh of course! They come by the bus loads and just want to see where Jay got married!" the old guide chuckled. "We had to very quickly learnt how to cope with that! Like you noticed how I kept asking if you guys needed Chinese brochures earlier - and I apologise for that if I seemed insistent - and we had to add more Chinese signs and stuff around the castle."
Later on I soon realised that in the Courtyard Cafe where clearly English food is very much their menu, they are now selling Vegetarian spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce (and in Chinese translation too) - probably the closest to Chinese food you can get here in Castle Howard.
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| Anyone know what language is "Jap Choi Chong"? For a moment I thought it's some dish named after Jay Chou. |
"Are you guys going to Selby too?" the guide asked. Sheepishly we laughed and said yes. He might just well be thinking "this bunch is just like the typical Jay Chou fans we see so often now" lol. He said many fans think the couple said their vows in the chapel of the castle and many get surprised when they get told Jay got married in a small town called Selby, 35miles from here. But after too many repeats of the same story, he cheekily said sometimes it is easier to just say yes they said their vows here in Castle Howard too. And then cameras click non stop.
I think it is pretty sad for fans to flock to this beautiful castle just to see the wedding venue, take pictures and then rush off. After all it is a good 4h drive from London.
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| In the grand hall which was reconstructed after it collapsed |
We walked around the house, which is also incidentally the film location for Brideshead Revisited (both the series in the 80s and the movie in 2008). Rongxuan loves the series so she got more excited about that than Jay Chou.
We started our drive to Selby from Castle Howard that afternoon. Of course to complete the authenticity of it all, JX our driver had to play some Jay Chou songs along the way lol. Aiyo I know right!
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| The majestic Selby Abbey |
Unfortunately the abbey was locked so we could only walk around the abbey grounds, take the obligatory shot to show yep we've been to Selby too. I had to ask the guys to Youtube their wedding video clip to see the interior of the abbey. Outside, the abbey certainly looks mighty and impressive, a surprise for us as the town is quaint and small for this abbey size. I guess there is a reason why Mr Chou chose this place. Although I still wonder… why Yorkshire?
Looking around the tourists we saw that day, it is evident that Jay Chou has indeed boosted the economy of North Yorkshire. A lot. I mean a sleepy town of Selby where none of us in our group have ever heard of, it is now thrown into the spotlight for Asian tourists. Castle Howard is getting more interest from Asians to have their weddings there too. I think our old uncle house guide is very amused by this phenomenon.
I like this first article haha
Signing off, reporter Bel from North Yorkshire ;)
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