[imitation]

I'll try to keep this story brief but it is quite a strange one.

Background, I moved to China about 8mths ago and met a girl just over 6mths ago, things have gone well with her, we've been living together for about 3mths and obviously spend alot of time together (if someone offers later to host a picture of her I can email).

Anyway this month was our 6mth aniversary, which also coincided with her work holidays so we planned a nice holiday to her home town (she's from a small village originally and it was an amazing experience to see and live in more rural china). Anyway as part of this ofcourse came time to meet the parents, which isn't a big problem for me as i've dated chinese girls before and know that all you need to do to impress is eat like 4 bowls of rice and demonstrate your mastery of chopsticks.

On perhaps the second day of our holiday, her mother decides that we need to visit a Buddhist friend, monk(i'm not sure), to judge the strength of our relationship, not one to cause a scene I agree to go. I expect we will be arriving at a temple but it's actually just some ladies house with a small make shift prayer room.

As the lady takes us into her house and offers us sweets, oranges and some peculiar pickled ginger which is moist and salty I am aprehensive, I know that the mother places a bit of importance on this all. My girlfriend is led into the "prayer room", as the women begins to chant and light insense I feel the tension bouncing around the room, from a wonderful oil painting of Mao, to the scummy window outside which I can see someone has thrown there rubbish from one of the windows above. As the ceremony goes into full throw(sp) my girlfriend brings her hands together in the typical prayer fashion and....I realise for the first time in 6mths, she is missing the entire first knuckle of her middle finger....this is the most surreal moment of my life, i'm looking at the lady chanting i'm looking at her hands, I start to sweat, is this an omen???, am I forseeing something of religious importance, should I speak up, cry to the lord, don a robe and seclude myself in the shaolin mountains????? or have I just been really really ignorant of the fact for 6mths....I say nothing but keep glancing to be sure.

Anyway as the following days progress I am able to confirm that the finger portion is missing, the nail is gone.

Can anyone explain how this happened, I figure the window of confrontation is way way passed, I can't imagine how I can casually bring it up now, something like "did you cut of your finger and not tell me?" is probably not going to fly.

Anyway I eagerly await your advice.