If there’s one thing that eBay China does well, it’s throwing a party. Man, these guys go INSANE! It absolutely trumps the eBay-thrown parties in any other countries – by far. China does it super-grand, super-organised, and super-awesome. Think a MASSIVE banquet dinner, an impressive performance and stage set-up, and incredible gifts/prizes.

This year was no difference. It was held in a huge banquet hall, with lots of games at the start to keep everyone occupied and mingling. One thing I failed to realise was that people dress up – men in suits, women in their finest cocktail dresses and beautiful hair and makeup. Me? I rocked up in my standard work clothes and no pretty makeup. D’oh! I think I missed out on the memo (well, it was an email written in Chinese, so that’s my defence!) about that “dress nicely” party 😉

There was a huge stage down the front, and it was basically like watching a concert or grand performance. We were treated to lots of skits and dancing, and a bunch of games and prize-drawings, etc. It was amazing that these were just regular people – our colleagues – up there on stage. They even had costumes and matching outfits and everything, incredible! In China, people take a lot of time to choreograph, to throw a grand party, and to impress. In Australia, our parties are just “Let’s have lunch then go to the pub for a drink” and that’s it 😉 It feels so far away now….

The dinner itself was FANTASTIC. We actually didn’t have high hopes since it’s difficult to cater enmass for so many people, but the food blew us away. Delicious, tasty, and filling. Well, I guess 13 courses is pretty much guaranteed to be filling 😉 I love how in China, you NEVER worry about going hungry when someone throws a party – the #1 priority is to ensure the guests are well-fed.

Best part? The 16GB white iPhone and 900? travel card I got! That particular iPhone is the newest one out on the market and currently retails around US$1,000 on eBay I think… and the travel card comes in handy for taxis (when I’m not using my driver). YAY 😀 I’m in a bit of a pickle with the iPhone though…. as I (need to) use my BlackBerry for work, so I can’t switch to the iPhone! And all the people close to me (that I would actually give it to) already have an iPhone, so I’m not sure what to do with it now, LOL! I want to use and play around it though, I think iPhones are super cute 😛 Only reason I haven’t already bought one for myself is because I love my BlackBerry, which I consider far superior to the iPhone in terms of usefulness.

Was a fun night, and I think it’s amazing how eBay does all this for the employees. What a way to boost employee morale!

The eBay Annual Party

The sign-in table

Fishing game

Our directors, putting on a drum performance

Video of the drum performance – pretty cool

Some colleagues, who were the emcees of the night

Dance item by a bunch of guys

Another Michael Jackson-esque dance

This was some skit about 4 guys trying to win a woman’s heart, I think?

A colleague performs on an ancient Chinese instrument – wow

Another dance item

The huge banquet hall

A 13-course menu. Woohoo!!!

Our table

Hooray for fab eBay dinners 🙂

I got a 16GB white iPhone and a 900? travel card. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!