Not buying house, no car, no wedding ceremony, no ring, etc only a red certificate of marriage, will you get married?
"Naked wedding", a phenomenon which was born under global financial crisis, has become popular because of the increasing house prices. Furthermore, a popular TV series-Naked Wedding Age-broadcast recently seems to strike a chord of many young people.
Netizens have made a ranking chart of the cost of getting a wife in different cities. According to the 2011 ranking chart of marrying a wife, a marriage in Beijing costs 2.3 million yuan(US $352.3), only next to that of Hangzhou. Among the whole cost, the house takes 1.8 million yuan.
That means if a man earns 120 thousand yuan a year, with financial support of 300 thousand yuan from his family, he still has to work 16.4 years without eating or shopping to afford a marriage.That is horrible!
Will young people accept naked wedding?
"I've got married", Wu Feng, who works in an internet company in Wuhan, sent such a message to his friends and colleagues last week. "It's a kind of declaration of marriage."
Two years ago, Wu Feng and his girl Friend Li graduated from the same university. Their relation always maintains well. Li said that they have saved little money and got little financial support from their parents. "Nevertheless, what I care most is my husband's love for me. I don't care renting a house or other formations."
But all women do not agree with her. According to an initial online statistics of 2009, 80 percent of men approve of the "naked wedding", while 70 percent of females do not.
Supporters say: a "naked wedding" should be the normal expectation for youth, while a wedding with everything is a kind of sick misunderstanding of society and the reasons for marriage; tracing back a few decades, our parents were getting married in a "naked way", they have better and happier lives now, so young people should also do so.
While opponents have their own arguments: "naked wedding" is a way of cheating yourself; living without a certain material basis also means no interest in romance; marriage on the basis of the marriage certificate, which is a thin piece of paper, can not pass through any tough experience.
Naked wedding sheds lights on social problems
Experts have different views on this issue. Shang Chongsheng, an expert on marital problems from Wu Han university, said that comparison is popular among young people. A splendid wedding ceremony with cars, wedding photo and other frills has become "an unbearable burden" for youths.
Liu Qianding, an expert in folk custom from Wuhan, approves of naked wedding. In 1980s or 1990s, most people wedded in a naked way, he said, marriage can not be meausured by money. "Does a couple necessarily have happiness if they own a house and a car? Marriage means affection after all."
Qiao Xinsheng, another expert in social development from Wuhan attributed this problem to house price. He said that how to solve the wedding house problem for young people is a test of wisdom for the government.
China Youth International/Hubei Daily
