East regions trying out new "wedding" ceremonies

BEIJING - East China's coastal regions are or soon will be trying out an innovative way of registering couples for marriage in ceremonies that bear similarities to a formal wedding.

Although the system is showing signs of being popular, it is too new to be adopted throughout the country in the foreseeable future, an official from the Ministry of Civil Affairs told China Daily last week.

Couples in Jiangsu province; in Qingdao, Shandong province; and in Shanghai can now go to local civil affairs departments to take part in wedding ceremonies, rather than go to such places simply to get a marriage certificate, said Liu Weihua, publicity official from the ministry.