A story of fate, love and incredibly poor timing

Andreas Muenzebrock and Jing Jiang’s Shanghai courtship was paved with coincidence or destiny -- depending on which one of them you ask.

The couple, who married recently in Pudong, met in 2002 shortly after Muenzebrock arrived in the city to work for a German company. At the time, Jiang, a Shanghai native, was working at a bar to supplement her work at a Chinese ad firm.

Muenzebrock compares meeting Jiang to a scene straight out of his favorite childhood show "Sesame Street" -- the skit that goes "one of these things is not like the other."

Muenzebrock’s German best man gave them a high-tech ceramic knife for the wedding gift, an ominous symbol in Chinese culture since it is said to divide relationships.

“It was her,” he said, smiling. “She was totally different than anyone else I had met here. Her eyes actually looked at people and cared about what they needed.”

But Jiang, then 22, had more than one suitor chasing her. Despite Muenzebrock’s adventurous travel tales of Tibet and Yunnan, she turned down his offer to go salsa dancing.

And that should've been that. But the story was far from over.

A year later, their paths crossed again at a techno club. Another year later, they were on the same plane flight to Beijing. Muenzebrock moved to an empty seat near Jiang and they chatted the entire flight. But, the timing was still off. Both were dating other people.

In 2005, the stars aligned at the former Face Bar. Jiang was sitting in the garden with a friend when she spotted Muenzebrock leaving.

“She was still on my mind after all that time,” Muenzebrock admitted.

For Jiang, someone who grew up with the Chinese notion of destiny, it was one chance encounter too many.

“Why did we meet so many times?” she said. “My choice three years before must have been mistaken.”

Muenzebrock  says, “I asked her to join me at a jazz and blues club."

“And I did,” Jiang chimes in.

“And then it all started,” Muenzebrock says, leaning closer to Jiang.

The couple speak their second language, English, together which has forced them to be direct in communication and keeps harmful words at bay when there’s a conflict -- mostly because they don’t know them.

Cultural differences do occasionally emerge. During a shopping trip to the former Xiangyang market, Jiang anticipated bargaining their way through the myriad stalls. Instead, Muenzebrock’s German penchant for discipline and order took over. He headed straight for a shirt vendor he’d been frequenting for three years, paid his unusual RMB 50 and left within 15 minutes.

For Jiang, someone who grew up with the Chinese notion of destiny, it was one chance encounter too many.

As they got more serious, they traveled to Germany to meet Muenzebrock’s mom. But Jiang still wouldn’t introduce her German boyfriend to her traditional Shanghainese family until she was certain they would marry.

In early 2008, Muenzebrock planned a romantic wedding proposal at a seafood restaurant in the Philippines. But Jiang wasn’t quite ready to tie the knot. When she agreed a half a year later, it was his turn to hesitate. “It was like ping pong,” Muenzebrock explains.

In 2009, during a trip to Yunnan, the timing was finally right.

Muenzebrock, 44, and Jiang, 30, married on October 16 in Shanghai’s Lujiazui. But they still couldn’t escape those pesky cultural differences. Muenzebrock’s German best man gave them a high-tech ceramic knife for the wedding gift, an ominous symbol in Chinese culture since it is said to divide relationships.

“I’m still happy use it though,” says Jiang, an avid home chef.

For now, life is firmly grounded in Shanghai for Jiang, who owns a café, and Muenzebrock, who is now a vice president for his German company. But, for a couple from two different backgrounds who both love to travel, it’s unclear where they’ll end up.

“It would have been easier to arrange the future with a Shanghai guy, but it’s good to take a risk,” Jiang said. “This way, it’s never boring.”

Muenzebrock turns and smiles at his new wife: “Yes, there is definitely no risk of being boring.”