12.31
Well it’s the last day of the year 2009, the last day of the noughties decade and the last day of my China 365 Photoblog. So I decided there was no more fitting a way to end it, than to get married! So this morning at 9.00am Canthy and I went down to the Beijing Marriage Registration Office to tie the knot. Getting married in China is a very simple process as all I needed was a passport and a document from the UK Consular Embassy in Beijing. The document declares that I am Bachelor and have never been married and do not have a criminal record.
When we arrived at the Marriage Registration Department of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs (China likes these long names) we were the first and probably only people there that day. We had to give them our documents along with three photos of the two of us together. It took about ten minutes to process the forms, which you sign and then they ink your right-hand index finger in red ink, which you then stamp on the form. This process makes you feel more like a criminal than a newly wed but its efficient and quick.
There is a new marriage trend in China called ‘Naked Weddings’. This has been adopted by many young Chinese couples as a way to combat the sky high property prices. It refers to a marriage without a house, a car, diamond ring, and fancy wedding ceremony. Well Canthy and I are not young; we do have a house and are buying a car so I guess our wedding was only half naked. With a baby arriving next June we have had to be more practical and think of the bigger picture. However, the diamond ring is coming soon and we will have a more formal wedding next year so it’s not so bad after all.
After the registration we both went straight back to work so was in the office by around 10am. My colleagues congratulated me but ask me why we didn’t dress up, as we both look so normal. I explained it’s just the registration but the formal wedding will be much more elaborate. The wedding only cost us RMB 9, (UK 80 pence) so the best money I ever spent, as the formal wedding will be way more expensive.
So a great way to end the year, a memorable way to end the decade and a meaningful last picture of the year on 31st December 2009.
Wishing all my readers a Happy New Year and all the best for the coming decade of the ‘Twenty Tens’, or whatever it will be called.
Congratulations. Great Blog!
[...] get married without having the usual house, car, wedding ceremony or ring. Having just had my own ‘Half Naked Wedding’ in Beijing I have first hand experience of the pressures these couples [...]