Local officials bless updated rural wedding practices

JINAN — When post-2000s-born couple Li Zhenghong and Sima Miaomiao of Linyi, Shandong province, planned their wedding, they opted for a "lightweight" package at just over 10,000 yuan ($1,484). No lavish spending and no one-upmanship was detected, just the warm blessings of family and friends.

"A simpler ceremony doesn't mean less happiness," Sima says. "Marriage is the start of a life together. A wedding that feels comfortable and sincere matters more than one that's all about show," Li adds.

In many parts of rural China, weddings were once a contest of "face". Everything, from banquets to luxury cars for the procession and cash gifts, was measured against what other couples managed. Some families drained their savings or borrowed heavily, just for a single day.

For decades, many grassroots communities across China, from townships to rural villages, have been rolling out locally tailored initiatives to promote appropriate wedding practices.

As local trials matured, the Chinese government included wedding customs in its annual "No 1 central document" for the first time in 2019, marking the beginning of a top-down effort to deepen wedding-related reforms.

The country's "No 1 central document" for 2026 calls for continued efforts to transform outdated rural customs, rein in exorbitant dowries, and strengthen coordinated governance among neighboring provincial regions.

In Daicun village of Lanling county in Linyi, hosting weddings in a new, frugal way has become a shared consensus among villagers. The village has set up a local committee to oversee weddings and funerals, known locally as a "red-and-white council". It has revised its village rules and regulations to promote alternatives such as destination, backyard and collective weddings.

The village has also built a public dining hall, providing free kitchenware, tables and chairs to help residents hold dignified yet cost-effective celebrations.

"The goal of transforming outdated customs is not to do away with social bonds, but to prevent them from becoming a debt burden," says Wang Chuanxi, head of Daicun village.

The trend is spreading from townships in eastern China to rural areas in the west.

In Gongjiaquan village, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, an old opera stage with over 50 years of history has been transformed into a village-level community event venue, equipped with a 20-square-meter LED screen, kitchenware, tables, chairs, and other facilities.

"With its full range of functions and user-friendly setup, it has become the venue of choice for young couples in the village to hold their wedding banquets," says Li Junping, director of the village's supervisory committee for routine affairs.

It was there that villagers Lu Qiao and Pan Yanzi held their wedding banquet. They hosted a feast for relatives and friends from both families, following a set standard of no more than 30 tables and a budget of no more than 200 yuan per table. In the end, their actual expenses came in at 50,000 yuan below their original budget.

"It feels very meaningful to hold our wedding on the old opera stage that carries so many childhood memories," Lu says.

To address the problem of high wedding costs in rural communities, neighboring provinces across China are now stepping up joint governance efforts.

For example, Yanggu county in Shandong and its neighboring counties of Taiqian and Fanxian in Central China's Henan province now hold regular matchmaker exchanges, with agreed-upon caps on wedding banquet costs, and jointly host group certificate-presentation ceremonies for newlyweds. Yanggu has also brought skits on the topic to village stages, helping residents understand updated wedding customs through comedy.

"My parents didn't ask for a dowry. The 88,000 yuan was what my fiance and I agreed upon — just for good luck," says Shang Lina, a Yanggu villager.

"But on the very day of our engagement, my parents gave the money back to us, hoping it would not only help support our new family, but also give our marriage the best possible start," she adds.

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