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New century group wedding ceremony
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THE first day of the new century is a symbol of a happy beginning for many people, especially for those newly married couples. A total of 200 couples in Shenzhen chose the day to greet the most important moment in their lives - attending a group wedding ceremony.
The Window of the World theme park became a sea of flowers, colourful balloons, and happiness on Monday afternoon.
The couples in traditional red wedding costumes stepped into the World Square and performed Bai Tiandi---a traditional way for brides and bridegrooms to make ceremonial obeisance.
In the evening, the couples attended the New Century Wedding Banquet and an evening party celebration.
The gala continued until yesterday afternoon, when the brides and bridegrooms had a gala parade along the Shennan Thoroughfare and Hongling Road to the "Dajiale" Stage in cars decorated with flowers.
Among the newlyweds, the only foreigner, Marti Kilcher, attracted many people's attention. He is a newspaper editor in Swiss, said his bride Zhang Hua, who works in Shenzhen. The couple got to know each other three years ago when Marti was touring Beijing and Zhang was practising foreign trade business in the same city.
Another bride, Hu Xiaoping, was also a focus on the ceremony because she was seated on an armchair. Hu and her bridegroom Zhang Yibing both work in Shenzhen and the couple persuaded Hu's sister, who works in Jiangxi Province to attend the gala with her newly married bridegroom. Unfortunately, Hu had a motorcar accident the day before the ceremony, but she persisted in attending it even on an armchair. "It is really a special day for me," she smiled.
The participants included not only local couples, but some from Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Hunan provinces and Hong Kong.
Jiang Jianguo and his bride Yang Yi came from Hunan Province. They attended the ceremony for two reasons. First, they wanted to take the chance to have a good look of Shenzhen, and most important all, they considered that it is of great significance to have the most important event in life celebrated on the first day of the new century and to share the happiness with so many others.
(Windy Shao)
Caption: A total of 200 couples have group wedding ceremony on Monday at the Window of the World theme park.
The only foreigner, Marti Kilcher, and his bride Zhang Hua on the ceremony.
Zhao Lianqin
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