Many young Chinese women aspire to Western-style weddings, but there are some, like Liu Sulan, who have always dreamt of a traditional Chinese wedding.

The wealthy businesswoman had a lavish Chinese wedding ceremony on Saturday.

Dressed in a traditional red wedding outfit with a blue phoenix crown dotted with bright beads, dragons and phoenix patterns, Liu (pictured top, right), a 32-year-old bride, sat on a bed and waited for her bridegroom to come and fetch her.

"The idea of having a traditional wedding ceremony was my husband's," said Liu. "He said it would be boring if he were to pick me up in his car, like usual."

Ye Zhilong (pictured below) spent three years planning for the ceremony. With help from a wedding company and Zhang Zhenyuan, the ceremony host who is in his 70s and witnessed lots of ancient ceremonies in his childhood, the preparation for the new couple's wedding was meticulous.

The plan was as follows: the bridegroom would ride a horse, followed by an empty red-cloth sedan, heading for his bride-to-be's home to collect her. The bride would then be escorted by sedan to the groom's home where a number of auspicious ceremonies would be carried out.

In this particular case, the bride was fetched from a hotel in Dongjiao Minxiang lane, and the final wedding ceremony was held at the Capital Hotel, instead of the couple's homes.

Although happy with the whole idea, Liu had a few problems to overcome. Her Ming-Dynasty costume was too large making it difficult for her to move freely. The phoenix crown on her head was also very heavy.

"I have to hold my head high for a long time, and put my hands in my lap without moving, like the brides you see in films, not because I wanted to do, but because the sleeves are too broad and the crown too heavy," she said.

Liu said there were many rituals she needed to do during the ceremony designed according to old customs.

At 10am in the morning, Ye rode his horse to fetch his bride, guiding his 40-man team, made up of a lion dance troupe, a sedan and a drumming troupe. They arrived in front of Dongjiaominxiang Hotel to meet his bride.

A lion dance and the deafening sound of the beating gongs and drums attracted the attention of many passers-by. Two maidservants wearing Qing-Dynasty-style costumes supported Liu, whose head was covered by a piece of red cloth, as she stepped out of the hotel.

A maid took out a small mirror and shook it inside the sedan for two seconds. The mirror, called zhaoyaojing, (meaning devil reflecting mirror), is believed to be capable of expelling evil and bringing good luck to the couple. The bride then took her seat in the sedan.

"Rise up sedan", shouted Zhang. Eight strong men lifted the sedan and the groom remounted the horse and marched with the whole team to another hotel. All their relatives followed on foot.

Loud music, large phoenix and dragon flags, and a lion dance made most passers-by stop and cars slow down as the wedding party moved on. Barbers busy in fashion salons, cyclists and people waiting for buses all followed the march to find out what was going to happen.

At one point, the groom's horse became frightened by the cars and the hustle and bustle of the city. Its frantic kicks almost knocked the groom off, but luckily the horse was controlled.

At the entrance of the Capital Hotel, the doormen allowed the crowds to flock inside. "It's amazing this is the first time I've seen this kind of wedding ceremony at the hotel," said one of them.

At 10:30am, the worship of heaven and earth by the couples began. On a sacrificial table, were red candles, various fruits and nuts and ruyi (an S-shaped ornamental object symbolizing good luck). The couple made three kowtows one for the heaven, one for the earth and one for each other respectively.The bride had to jump over a fire stove, to make sure that the couple would have a good life in the future, as well as serving tea to her parents-in-law, and biting an apple together with the groom (which is a new custom deliberately added to the traditional ones), which made all the friends and relatives at the banquet laugh.

Both from the same village in Cangzhou County of Hebei Providence, the couple own a construction materials business. "They conquered many difficulties together; we hope they join their hands and hearts to face life in the future," said Yan Pingfu, aged 65, the bride's uncle. He added that traditional ceremonies, which were often held in their villages 40 years ago, are seldom to be seen these days. "Marriage is such a big event in people's lives; a grand ceremony should be arranged if at all possible," he said.

"In recent years, traditional wedding ceremonies have started to get more and more popular with young Chinese couples and even foreigners," said Guan Xin, manager of the wedding company. "People consider the traditional ceremony as a good way of inheriting Chinese customs and culture, as well as giving them a special memory of their wedding," she said.

(China Daily 02/07/2007 page16)