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Journalism of Courage
SHANGAI, OCT 17: Some 999 couples were married on Saturday in a mass white wedding and then paraded Shanghai’s streets under sunny skies. The spectacle, organised by the Luwan district government, was one of the launching-day highlights of the city’s annual tourism festival.
Only 380 couples participated in the formal ceremony on the lawn of the historic Jinjiang Hotel.
619 others later joined in for a parade and further festivities in Fuxing Park including firecrackers and the release of a giant flock of doves.
The total number, 999, is considered propitious for unions because the number nine is a homonym for a Chinese word meaning “long-lasting”. Some 10,000 roses were used to adorn the entire event, according to the official media.
Authorities recruited couples for the mass wedding through a campaign of newspaper advertisements and registration displays in major department stores.
The scheme in part aimed to promote retail business in the district, as participants bought into a discountprogramme allowing them to make post-wedding purchases and host banquets at preferential rates. Other activities to kick off the tourism festival include an evening fireworks display over the skyscraper spires of the Pudong New Area.
