Sun Mengyue, a Zhenghe Petrochemical Group employee, attended three weddings during his three-day May Day Holiday. Wedding customs in Shandong have dramatically changed in recent years, he said.
The Grand Eight Bowls are essential to a wedding feast in Shandong, in which eight local dishes are served, but now 26 courses are commonplace since people are much wealthier. The food includes appetizers and main dishes. The food in rural areas is organic with a delicious taste.
Additionally, the way in which the groom escorts the bride has been replaced with a spectacular event. In the 1990s, the groom rode a bicycle to escort the bride. Now they drive a motorcade of Mercedes-Benz and Audis.
As for wedding room decorations, Western style furniture has been replaced by antique furniture, which demonstrates the changes of rural residents' artistic tastes. In a rural household, computers and large bookshelves signify a connection to the world.
Some newly-weds take their wedding photos in Jeju Island in South Korea. Personal accident insurances policies have been purchased along with wedding gifts as another symbol of the profound changes occurring here.
"The changes in wedding ceremonies stands as an epitome of China's rapid development," Sun said.
(Author: Sun Mengyue)