Tag Archives: brides

I spy a wedding

21 Nov

A little while ago, on a weekday, while I was at home minding my own business, I was bothered by an extremely loud sound of fireworks. Fireworks are extremely common in China; you can hear them anywhere and especially at anytime of the day rather than the night. They use them for absolutely any occasion, the opening of a new shop, the birth of a baby, etc. The principle goes that noise scares the bad spirits, while the good spirits stay around. So they happen all the time, but you just never see them… noise but no spectacle.

These fireworks however I was able to see. Not that they were any interesting but I could see where they were coming from and why they were being lit: a wedding. More precisely, the bride car procession, announced by the fireworks and then slowly making its way to the entrance of the building where a red carpet was rolled down to welcome her in.

Obviously the bride is almost always more easily recognisable than the groom. In China, brides traditionally wear red, but globalisation has made the white gown more fashionable. So I can’t really tell you who was accompanying her. It could have been the newly weds going into their conjugal home or the bride and her parents going to the in-laws. It was in broad daylight, so it may be a bit early to end the party, especially that weddings are a big deal in this country

I shall ask my Chinese teacher and let you know…

At this stage, I was still wondering what was going on and kept my windows firmly closed.

Then I noticed this car with the little heart to the front.


The paparazzi are aligned!

And there she is!

My mum taking a picture of a more traditional bride in Beijing

Visits: Běijīng

6 May



Part of the Summer Palace

Brides by the annex of the Forbidden City

The Great Wall


Tiananmen Square

The Beijing Opera House


798 Art District

Installation by Palestinian artist Bashir Makhoul



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