5,000 couples took part in the largest group wedding in the history of the People’s Republic of China

A bride and groom wave at the camera at a group wedding in Beijing, September 22, 2024. A total of 5,000 Chinese couples tied the knot at 50 locations across China, marking the largest group wedding organized by Chinese authorities since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Photo: VCG

A total of 5,000 Chinese couples tied the knot simultaneously in 50 locations across the country on Sunday as the nation eagerly awaits the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Couples celebrated their love on the day, marking a significant chapter in their lives.

The group wedding, which has the theme of “a celebration of families and the nation where we experience happiness together,” is the largest such event organized by the Chinese authorities since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

At 50 wedding ceremony venues held in provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, Hong Kong special administrative regions, Macao and Taiwan, 5,000 couples dressed in traditional Chinese wedding dresses, held flowers, exchanged gifts and solemnly read out marriage vows, China Women’s News reported.

According to the Beijing Daily, in addition to taking a vow to stay together and grow old together, the newlyweds also made a proposal to simplify wedding procedures and objected to large engagement gifts.

As reported by the Beijing Daily, the symbolic significance of the group wedding in the context of promoting the reform of marriage customs, promoting a new culture of marriage and having children, and promoting happiness in marriages and families is obvious.

A couple from Ji’an, east China’s Jiangxi Province, told media that the essence of marriage is love and commitment between two people, while high “caili” or engagement gifts from the groom to the bride’s family often put a financial burden on the young couple and even affect the happiness of their marriage, China Women’s News reported.

Their opinion was shared by a certain bride named Yan Huiyin from Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China, who believed that finding a soul mate to share the rest of one’s life with is always the most important value of marriage.

Demographic expert He Yafu, who has long tracked marriage registration data, said one reason for the decline in marriages in China in recent years is the high cost of weddings, particularly in rural areas where the practice of high “caili” is more common.

“The group wedding aims to promote the reform of outdated customs and encourage simplified wedding practices, opposing expensive engagement gifts and extravagant ceremonies. One of its goals is to advocate for lowering the cost of marriage and increasing the marriage rate,” he told the Global Times on Sunday.

The largest number of couples, 300, took part in the wedding ceremony in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in northern China.