Young couples in traditional She outfits take part in a local wedding ceremony in Jingning She autonomous county of Lishui, Zhejiang province on Sept 23. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Jingning She autonomous county in the city of Lishui, Zhejiang province held a traditional wedding ceremony for 34 foreign couples on Sept 23.

She people are a Chinese ethnic group. A group of She people moved from Fujian to Zhejiang 1,200 years ago and settled in Jingning county in Lishui. They produced a rich culture of daily life, including folk songs, dances, weaving and embroidery. The wedding ceremony of the ethnic group is a great combination of various customs.

The bride's family usually sets up a few obstacles to let the bridegroom pledge his love. Singing in antiphonal style is the most common in Jingning as She people are good at singing. The two sides will ask for help from the best local singers.

An interesting highlight of the wedding ceremony is the cooking part for groomsmen. Cooking utensils are hidden by the bride's family and only by singing traditional folk songs can the grooms get them and make a meal.

In addition to the special wedding customs, the exquisite She clothes and accessories are quite appealing.

On the wedding day young couples from other countries wore She clothes, sat in well decorated sedan chairs, tasted the local wine and listened to traditional folk music.

A participant from Yemen, whose Chinese name is Mo Yi'an, said he likes China as the unique customs of different regions in the country make it like a mosaic of different colors.