Cars, spas and singing stars: This is what a 5 million yuan wedding looks like

The benchmark of opulent and over-the-top weddings amongst China’s rich has been kicked up another notch after a mainland businessman splashed out a small fortune for his son’s big night on Saturday.

Zeng Guo, the groom's father and boss of Chongqing-based Fuxing Doors Industry Group, spent an alleged five million yuan (HK$6.3 million) on the “most expensive wedding in Chongqing’s history”, the Chongqing Morning News reported on Sunday.

“At first I was aiming to keep extravagance and waste to a minimum. But then I decided to combine the wedding with a corporate promotion event,” he said. “[The banquet] allows me to kill two birds with one stone…I feel the money has been well spent.”

The banquet was held at the upscale Daisishengjue Spa Hotel in Heishangu, Wansheng. Each of the hundred plus tables at the banquet hall cost about 10,000 yuan.

Two million yuan was set aside for hiring a list of entertainers including singers Eric Wu Qixian and Jiang Yuheng, the newspaper said. Both were friends of the bride and groom. Also performing was Nigerian-born, China-based musician Uwechue Emmanuel (Hao Ge), one of China's most notable foreign singers.

Lavish weddings and dowries for the offspring of China’s rich have become increasingly common – and competitive – in the country.

In January, Wu Duanbiao, chairman of ceramics firm Fujian Wanli Group, forked out more than a billion yuan (HK$1.2 billion) as a dowry for his daughter, according to media reports.

Last March, Shanxi coal magnate Xing Libin threw a 70 million yuan wedding banquet, complete with a concert, for his daughter at the Sanya Ritz Carlton in Hainan.