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Weddings abroad are becoming increasingly popular among newlyweds

Weddings abroad are becoming increasingly popular among newlyweds
© Provided by Xinhua
A couple poses for a photo with the snow-capped mountains in the background during the wedding in Lijiang, southwest China's Yunnan Province, April 7, 2024. (Xinhua)

KUNMING, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) — With Qixi Festival, also known as Chinese Valentine's Day, approaching, Shi Najun, the head of a wedding company in southwest China's Yunnan Province, is busy planning weddings for couples from across the country.

Shi's company is based in Lijiang, a popular tourist destination known for its stunning scenery, including snow-capped mountains and ancient towns with rich ethnic culture.

In recent years the city has become a popular wedding venue.

“There will be eight weddings on Qixi Festival (August 10), and an average of five weddings per day on the three days before and after,” Shi said, adding that the company had already received bookings for wedding ceremonies on September 9, a date synonymous with “eternal” love in Chinese, as well as for Valentine's Day next year and May 20, which is pronounced like “I love you” in Chinese.

Xiao Yu, 28, celebrated her wedding in Lijiang last year.

On her wedding day, Xiao invited only her parents and close friends. After a simple ceremony in the morning, they went on an outing in the afternoon. The six-day wedding cost less than 40,000 yuan (about $5,600).

“We work in a first-class city and are too busy to hold a lengthy and complicated traditional wedding in our hometown. We don't want such a wedding, nor do we want to impose such a burden on our parents and relatives,” Xiao said, noting that a wedding abroad would bring significant financial savings.

Weddings abroad are becoming increasingly popular. Unlike traditional weddings, which often take place in the couple's hometown in the presence of far-flung relatives and friends, weddings abroad allow couples to get married in a scenic location of their choosing.

© Provided by Xinhua
A couple poses for a photo during the wedding in Baoshan, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Aug. 10, 2024. (Photo by Zhang Hongke/Xinhua)

In the city of Tengchong in Yunnan, 24 young couples will celebrate their wedding at the Qixi Festival.

Wei Huantian and her husband recently celebrated their wedding there and, after a short and simple ceremony, went on a bike ride.

“Traditional weddings are always the same and quite complicated. Since we both love to travel and have had great experiences in Yunnan, we decided to celebrate our wedding here,” said Wei.

Dali, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Yunnan, known for its natural landscapes and historical and cultural heritage, hosted more than 4,400 weddings last year, with about 90 percent of the couples coming from outside the province.

Wang Sihan, a partner at a wedding planning company in Dali, has witnessed the rapid growth of the industry.

Wang recalled that in 2017, only two or three couples got married each month, but now there is an average of one wedding per day. On special holidays, three or four weddings can take place at the same time.

“Since 2019, business has improved noticeably. Many traditional wedding companies have expanded into the overseas wedding market,” she added.

Wang also noted that more and more customers prefer to integrate traditional local ethnic culture and historical elements into their weddings. They choose local specialties and intangible cultural heritage handicrafts as gifts to share with friends and family. “The deep integration of destination weddings with local culture and tourism is expected to be a new trend for the future development of the industry.”

Destination weddings have also become a hot topic on the social platform Xiaohongshu. More than 380,000 posts share tips, costs and advice on organizing such weddings. In addition to Yunnan, Xinjiang, Sichuan and Hainan are among the most popular wedding destinations.

This phenomenon reflects a changing attitude among young people towards weddings, said Chen Kunting of the Yunnan University of Finance and Economics.

The fast pace of modern society is leading many young people to choose the simplicity and efficiency of a wedding abroad. Compared with older generations, young people today attach more importance to their own feelings and emotional experiences in the wedding, Chen added.

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