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随着人们生活水平的提高，新人们对婚礼的期待也越来越奢华，从豪华礼服到婚礼设计，如今的新郎新娘们有了更多更好的选择...
Luxury wedding boom in China
China's wedding industry is booming thanks to higher standards of living and new fashion trends that appeal to young couples. From luxurious gowns to wedding planners, Chinese lovers have never had so much choice.
Choosing the right wedding dress is never easy, no matter where you live.
This young bride - Sally Jing - is shopping in one of Beijing's more up-scale bridal shops, and is literally spoiled with options.
She has invited around 200 people to her wedding reception in Beijing, and is also planning a second reception in her boyfriend's home-town in south China.
For many of China's upwardly mobile young people, a wedding is an opportunity to show-off their wealth and status, while conforming to traditions.
Only a few years ago, many Chinese brides would rent wedding dresses. Now, one popular choice is to make a splash in one-of-a-kind hand-made gowns.
Li Fei, a bridal ware designer, says today many couples shun cheap materials in favor of more luxurious fabrics.
Li Fei said, "In the past, people used to rent their wedding dress, or buy a cheap ones because they would wear it only once. Nowadays, young couples have a very different attitude. Because it is a once in a lifetime chance to show off, they pay much more attention on the quality and character of the wedding dress."
One of the people commenting on the spending habits of Chinese couples is Zhang Li, editor of Public Marriage Information, a monthly magazine specializing in bridal ware.
She says, on average, Beijingers spend around 50-thousand yuan, or some 7,300 US Dollars for their wedding.
Because of this lucrative market, a whole range of businesses have sprung up to cater to the wedding industry.
In traditional Chinese culture, marriage is highly valued as an institution - this is reflected by the millions of weddings that are tracked every year by the state-run Wedding Industry Committee.
And according to the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs, 11,458,000 couples were married in 2009, a nine percent increase compared to the previous year.
