Crackdown on ‘unhealthy’ wedding practices in developing city in China to curb vulgar rituals and extravagance
- A special development zone in China is the latest region to crack down on what many consider over-the-top and lavish weddings
- Recently a wedding featuring a racy pole dance caught national attention after a video emerged on social media
On Wednesday, the Hebei Provincial Department of Civil Affairs announced the reforms in a document on its website, stating they would be enforced for a trial period of three years in Xiongan and surrounding areas, including Baoding‘s Lianchi district, Hengshui’s Jizhou district, Handan’s Feixiang district and in Xinji city.
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The traditions authorities want to curb include extravagant betrothal gifts, peer competition, wasteful weddings and vulgar celebrations, the notice said.
“We hope a healthy and frugal wedding tradition can become mainstream in society,” the notice said.
Members of the public celebrated the new policy online. “Weddings should be a beautiful thing, and not about spending money,” one said on Weibo, China’s Twitter.
“I never even wanted a wedding, I don‘t want to kiss in front of a bunch of relatives, I’d rather spend the money travelling with my new husband,” another said.
Extravagance and vulgar behaviour at Chinese weddings have often been a subject of debate in the country. The tradition is known as naohun, which literally means “making disturbances at weddings‘’, and dates back thousands of years.