Young Chinese couples are choosing destination weddings in Yunnan, combining intimate ceremonies with travel and photography.
When Li Zhe and Yang Siying, a couple from Guangdong Province in southern China, returned to Lijiang during this year’s National Day holiday, they had a special reason for their visit. Ten years earlier, they had travelled to the city separately. This time, they returned together to get married.
At Blue Moon Valley, meltwater from the snow-capped mountains reflected the autumn light as the couple held their wedding ceremony beside the lake.
“We both visited Lijiang 10 years ago. This time, we came back to bring our two stories together,” Yang said.
Cost was another factor in their decision. For just over 10,000 yuan (about £1,130), the package covered wedding styling, outfits, private transfers and accommodation. The couple were able to arrange their destination wedding in one package.
Another groom, Zhao Chengyu from Gansu Province in northwestern China, chose a small wedding in Dali, also in Yunnan. He invited only a dozen or so close relatives and friends. The ceremony ended at noon, leaving the afternoon for wedding photographs and the evening for a stay at a guesthouse beside Erhai Lake.
“We replaced the traditional wedding banquet with a small ceremony, wedding photography and a short honeymoon,” Zhao said. “It cost less and made the whole experience more relaxed.”
A Wedding and a Holiday in One
Yunnan, with its snow-capped mountains, plateau lakes, ancient towns and flower fields, has become a destination for couples seeking a wedding away from home. Local businesses have responded by bringing together photography, ceremony planning, accommodation and honeymoon arrangements.
Zhang Xiaoqiong, who works in the wedding industry in Lijiang, said customers could book online and arrange their itineraries in advance. Once they arrived, agencies could organise airport transfers, accommodation and photography schedules.
The National Day holiday is one of the busiest periods of the year for the industry, she said. Her team served more than 20 couples a day during this year’s holiday.
Industry figures also point to a growing market. According to Yunnan’s provincial department of culture and tourism, Dali hosted about 5,600 destination weddings in 2025, generating an estimated 280 million yuan in output. The city also served around 220,000 couples seeking wedding and travel photography that year.
In Lijiang, the number of businesses offering wedding and travel photography rose from 83 in 2015 to 2,056 in 2025. The city received around 90,000 couples for such services last year, with total spending exceeding 1 billion yuan.
The appeal is not limited to Yunnan. Sanya in Hainan Province is another destination for wedding ceremonies, while Qingdao in Shandong Province and Pingtan in Fujian Province have developed wedding venues that make use of coastal scenery and other local attractions.
At the same time, changes to China’s marriage registration rules have made it easier for couples to register their marriages away from their places of household registration. The revised Marriage Registration Regulations took effect in May 2025, allowing couples to register their marriages nationwide without returning to their places of household registration.
Changing Expectations, New Services
For some couples, the appeal lies in having a smaller ceremony and more control over the day. Rather than organising a large banquet, they can invite a limited number of guests and spend more time on the ceremony, photographs and travel.
However, destination weddings also require careful planning. Industry professionals have warned that some photography agencies have started offering wedding packages without sufficient experience in organising ceremonies.
Xiao Yang, a wedding planner with nearly 10 years of experience, said wedding photography and ceremony planning require different skills and services. Photography focuses on the finished images, while a wedding also depends on the smooth running of the ceremony and arrangements for unexpected problems.
Some customers have encountered issues such as venues that differ from promotional images, last-minute price increases and inadequate plans for bad weather, according to industry representatives. When couples, organisers and venues are based in different cities, resolving disputes can also become more difficult.
As destination weddings attract more customers, the quality of planning and on-site services remains an important consideration for couples choosing to celebrate away from home.
Written by Ronnie Yu, additional reporting by CNS, China City News
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