The Country

Officially known as The People’s Republic of China, the country is located in Eastern Asia. The third largest country in the world, China amazingly shares its borders with 14 other countries and is fenced by the East China Sea, Yellow Sea, South China Sea and Korea Bay. It is also the most populated nation in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. China has the third biggest economy in the world, as well as the largest sized army. The communist state is headed by a trifecta of power bases, namely the President, Premier and the almost three thousand strong National People’s congress.

The country has over 100 distinct ethnic groups, although only half of those are recognized by the government, with the ethnic Hans constituting over 90% of the population. Mandarin is the official and most widely spoken language. Nevertheless, other regional dialects such as Cantonese, Teochew and Hakka are still in heavy use. Despite being a Communist country, the government has not actively clamped down on religious activities. Observers have estimated that Buddhism (heavily influenced by Taoism and Confucianism) is the dominant religion in the land with almost 800 million adherents, although it must be noted that their actual immersion in the religion is subject to interpretation owing to the injection of various traditional beliefs and customs in their practice.

Relationship With A Chinese Woman

Traditionally, the Chinese view marriage as an ancestral obligation, to propagate and strengthen the bloodlines as well as enhancing their cultural standing in the community. In addition, marriages are subject to astrological and numerological compatibility. Although this requirement has somewhat vanished among the more urban population, it still plays a significant role in any marriage related matter. Add to this mix the over 100 ethnic variations in the marriage customs, you begin to get a sense of the complexity that you will encounter. Therefore, it is perhaps understandable why starting a relationship with these beautiful jewels of the orient requires the most thorough contemplation.

Marriage

Planning to wed your Chinese girlfriend? Here are a couple of things you should know about.
Your marriage proposal needs to be made by an elder of your family to hers through an intermediary. This ensures that in the event the negotiation turns out negatively, both families can walk away from the negotiating table with their head held high and the blame apportioned to the intermediary. As marriage affects the family and community, they belief that negotiations should not be left in the hands of youngsters such as yourself or your girlfriend.

Upon successful conclusion of the tripartite negotiations, both families will meet. In the event that your family is not available for this momentous occasion, it would be prudent to engage the assistance of some elderly native acquaintance to sit in your corner to ensure a smooth meeting. Based on the birth hour and birth date of the both of you, a wedding date would be determined. The meeting would conclude after an agreement is reached on the value of the betrothal gift for the bride. Weddings generally occur anywhere inside two years from this moment onwards.

A day before your wedding, your in-laws would provide you with a new bed that you would have to sleep in. Before your bedtime, young members of the family would be encouraged to play on the bed, as this will increase your fertility and your bride’s chances of conceiving an heir. During this time, you are forbidden to see your bride as she is in the symbolic mourning period for the coming loss of her family and friends.

On the wedding day, your wife will be dressed in three separate dresses for the three formal events of the day. The first event is the ceremony of respect, where the both of you will kneel and offer tea to both sets of parents. In exchange, they present you with packets in red, containing either money or jewelry.

The second set of dress will be for the wedding banquet. Wedding banquets are an important aspect of Chinese weddings as it allows the couple to show their appreciation to their family and it establishes their hierarchical position in the society.

The third dress, the departing dress, will be worn upon conclusion of the banquet. In traditional Chinese marriages, this will be the last time the bride will spend a night under the roof of her family home.

Regulation

Marriage for foreigners in China falls under the purview of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Their requirement include copies of your travel documents, identification papers (Resident Permit for Foreigners issued by the Foreign Affairs Department) and a certificate of no impediment to marriage issued by your local embassy. A visit to any of the branch office with your complete set of documentation will see that your registration be formalized on the same day.