Harbin sees a revival in wedding market

Harbin, Heilongjiang province, has been seeing a rapid wedding market revival after China adopted its optimized COVID-19 epidemic control policies and people welcomed the Chinese Lunar New Year — the Year of the Rabbit — Heilongjiang New Media Group reported on Thursday.

Wedding banquet bookings at restaurants and hotels in Harbin show substantial year-on-year growth, the report said.

"As of Feb 4, the wedding banquet orders we received are up by 75 percent over the average of the previous three years," said Li Shuang, general manger of Hampton by Hilton. "A portion of the orders were postponed because of the pandemic."

A similar situation has been seen in customized wedding services, including wedding ceremonies, photography and makeup.

"The orders we received doubled from last year," said Wang Ye, chief technical director of a wedding service company. "We also found that more young people are looking for minimalist styles and experiences for their wedding ceremony, such as outdoor lawn ceremonies with simple and natural decorations."

"In recent years, newly married couples and their parents have higher requirements for weddings," said Meng Ying, deputy secretary-general of the Heilongjiang Wedding Proprieties Association. "We will organize various public welfare activities for training to provide better service."