Marriage tourism blooms as China lifts registration limits

When bank clerk Ren Yingxiao and her fiance began searching for a honeymoon destination, they stumbled upon Sayram Lake in Xinjiang — a place so picturesque it seemed plucked from a romantic film and to their surprise, the scenic spot also had a marriage registration office.

"So we thought, why not go there and get our marriage certificate as well?" she said, recalling the moment they decided to combine their honeymoon with their wedding.

The authorities in Xinjiang, like many across China, are betting that breath-taking views and convenience will help reverse a national slump in marriages. Earlier this year, Beijing lifted a long-standing restriction that required couples to register only in their place of residence.

From May onwards, couples could legally tie the knot anywhere in the country, allowing local governments to compete for what has become a new form of "marriage tourism."

Since then, registration offices have popped up in unexpected places — from snow-capped peaks and ancient temples to subway stations, shopping malls, and even nightclubs. The goal is clear: make getting married as appealing, effortless, and Instagrammable as possible.

So far, it seems to be working. Official data show marriages rose 22.5% from a year earlier to 1.61 million in the third quarter of 2025, offering rare optimism after years of decline. Last year's 20.5% drop to just 6.1 million unions was the steepest fall ever recorded.

Across China, each city is finding its own creative spin. In Nanjing, couples can wed at the Confucius Temple in ceremonies styled after the Ming Dynasty. In Hefei, a marriage booth has opened inside a subway station aptly named Xingfuba, meaning "place of happiness."

In Chengdu, one can marry on the Xiling Snow Mountain, 3,000 metres above sea level, while Shanghai's nightlife district now allows couples to collect their certificate at a nightclub after a civil registration. Even Beijing's ancient Huguo Guanyin Temple, built to promote peace and prosperity, has joined the trend.

At Sayram Lake, where Ren married, even the geography carries romantic symbolism. The lake's altitude — 2,073 metres — sounds like "love you deeply" in Chinese. Its 1,314 square kilometre area translates phonetically to "a lifetime," and the nearby city of Urumqi is 520 kilometres away, a number that means "I love you."

But experts warn the surge in weddings might not last. Demographer Yi Fuxian of the University of Wisconsin-Madison expects the number of women aged 20 to 34 — the main marrying cohort — to halve by 2050.

He believes deeper societal forces, including economic insecurity and shifting priorities among women, will continue to suppress marriage and birth rates. "The removal of geographic restrictions is helpful, but the impact will be short-lived," he said.

Ren agrees. "It's unlikely that two people who didn't plan to get married would suddenly decide to do it on impulse while travelling," she said. "That's not very realistic." For her, a wedding with a view was simply a beautiful convenience — not a social mission. "Marriage rates will improve only when people feel financially secure," she said. "That's when love has room to grow."