Shanghai (CNS) -- A low-carbon Han wedding was held at the "green" opening ceremony of the Shanghai 2011 Chinese Urban Car-Free Day campaign week on Saturday.
The couple, Zhao Yongchao and Liu Shiqin, met at a bicycle club. Their common interest in cycling inspired them to get married in an environmentally-friendly way, dressed in natural Han clothing. Han weddings also usually leave out the traditional Chinese feast.
Low-carbon weddings have been gaining popularity among Shanghai youth.
Maggie, a Canadian, and her Chinese husband Zhang Lie married in May, taking a wedding bus instead of a car. Their wedding shoes were hand-made from recycled material and all the wedding flowers were crafted from paper by family members.
According to "Pressure of Happiness? – A Survey of Weddings of the 1980s White Collar Generation" released in 2010 by the Shanghai Youth Research Center, in 2009 the average wedding cost for a local couple mounted up to 130,000 yuan, excluding the cost of a new apartment, decorations and transportation.
In years to come, newlyweds will be confronted with an even larger bill. Though most couples will have traditional weddings, simpler and greener weddings will most certainly become more attractive.
