Group wedding in Hunan touts simpler styles

Seventy-one couples promoting simple wedding styles were married on Sept 25 in Changsha, Hunan province, as they celebrated the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

It was the second time that departments of the provincial government had put together a Chinese-style group wedding. The newlyweds came from 14 cities and autonomous prefectures — medical workers, poverty alleviation workers, young village officials and people from various other walks of life.

In the face of two major tasks — poverty alleviation and fighting the pandemic — many of them had postponed their wedding plans and rushed to the front lines without hesitation.

For the group wedding, they showed frugality and illustrated their common belief that "a country is a family".

Grooms, together with brides wearing traditional wedding gowns, practiced traditional wedding etiquette. They also issued a call for new and simpler weddings. They read their marriage vows together, sang the song Country and promised to love each other and China.