Wedding traditions of Beijing
A northern Chinese wedding in red, with a lucky date, a bridal car convoy, the double happiness sign and a banquet.
In Beijing, as elsewhere in China, a marriage is legally made at a civil affairs bureau, and the wedding banquet is a separate celebration. Red is the colour of luck and is used for dress, gift envelopes and decorations.
A wedding here
The groom's family sends betrothal gifts, called pinli, and the bride's family returns some. On the day, the groom collects the bride, often after friends have played gate games, and the couple offer tea to the groom's parents. A banquet follows, with a toast table to table. Many couples wear a red qipao or a modern gown and tuxedo, and have photographs taken in advance.
Where weddings happen
Hotels, banquet halls and restaurants. The registration is at a district marriage registry office, and since 2025 couples can register at any such office in the country.
The season and the calendar
Many families choose a date from the lunar almanac. Dates such as 8 August, 9 September and 20 May, which sounds like "I love you" in Mandarin, are popular. Registration offices are busy on such days.
Wedding customs of Beijing
Chinese pre-wedding customsThe rites, the tea ceremony and the banquet.
Double HappinessThe red sign of two joys.
Red envelopeGift money in red paper.Also part of it, and being written: Qipao (The close-fitting dress.), Chinese marriage (The law and practice of marriage.), Tea ceremony (The offering of tea to elders.).
A wedding trail idea for Beijing
- Wangfujing A shopping street for gold and wedding goods.
- Panjiayuan market A market for gifts and antiques.
- Houhai and the Hutong lanes Courtyard hotels and photographic spots.
- Qianmen An old shopping street.
Written by the EveryShaadi desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, venues and wedding-season dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇨🇳 Beijing, China and 1 moreMarriage market
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Parents pin written profiles of their unmarried children to strings in a Shanghai parkBetrothal · Finding a match
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A historical Chinese policy of uniting imperial families with neighboring rulers to secure peace.Betrothal · Engagement and betrothal
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Marriage market: Tim Sheerman-Chase, CC BY 2.0, source
- Shanghai Marriage Market: Jpbowen, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chinese pre-wedding customs: Anonymous ( China ) Unknown author, CC0, source
- Red envelope: Oldie~commonswiki, Public domain, source
- Double Happiness: kanegen, CC BY 2.0, source
- Heqin: पाटलिपुत्र, CC BY-SA 4.0, source