Group wedding celebrates love, heritage during Qixi Festival

In a heartfelt celebration of love and tradition, 30 couples from Yantai, Shandong province, and Wushan, Chongqing, came together on Wednesday in a collective wedding ceremony championing the virtues of frugality and civility in modern marriage.

The event, which was held in Yantai, coincided with the Qixi Festival, China's traditional celebration of love inspired by the legend of the reunion of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl.

The couples were brought together under the Shandong-Chongqing collaboration framework, a pairing initiative established under China's national strategy for coordinated development between its eastern and western regions.

The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is a story of star-crossed lovers. Niulang, a mortal cowherd, and Zhinu, a heavenly fairy, fall in love and marry. Separated by the Milky Way in the heavens by angry deities, they reunite once a year bridged by a flock of magpies.

Wednesday's ceremony began by showcasing the intangible cultural heritage of China's eastern and western regions. The Haiyang Yangko dance, a traditional folk dance from Shandong, captivated the audience with its exuberant energy, embodying the benevolence and cultural depth of the East.

Complementing the dance was the ethereal performance of the qin, a traditional bamboo musical instrument from Wushan, whose melodic tones accompanied a poetic portrait of the gorges and winding rivers of Chongqing.

The event featured a special segment in which exemplary "golden wedding" couples — people who have been married for more than 50 years — were invited to impart their wisdom. Drawing from their own enduring partnerships, these couples shared heartfelt stories of mutual respect, household harmony and the enduring power of love, offering the newlyweds timeless lessons in marriage and family.

By linking the past with the present, the event served as a vibrant conduit for the intergenerational transmission of family values and cultural continuity.