Marriage is in the air during holiday国庆长假结婚潮
SHANGHAI - The 25-year-old Shanghai native Liu Yiwei has had an exhaustingholiday during the past seven days. Rather than traveling or working overtime, she was busy hopping from nuptialto nuptial arming "red bombs" with piles of cash.
上海-25岁的上海人刘仪薇度过了一个疲倦的七天长假。她并没有出门旅行或者加班，而是带着塞满现金的“红色炸弹”奔波于婚礼现场间。
"Red bomb" is the popular name for the red envelopes with money that are given as wedding gifts.
“红色炸弹”是个流行词汇，指的是装现金的红色信封(红包)，做为给新人的结婚礼物。
"Weddings are supposed to be joyful occasions filled with blessings. But when too many pile up, you feel rushed to complete a series of tasks," said Liu, who attended two weddings in the past week, one of which she was also "working" as the bridesmaid.
“婚礼本来应该是充满祝福的欢乐场景，但是当许多婚礼集中在一起，你会觉得自己是赶着去完成任务。”刘小姐表示，她在过去的一周里参加了两次婚礼，其中一次她还是伴娘。
The weddings can also be a "burden" because, according to Chinese tradition, guests should give couples red envelopes containing money as blessings.
婚礼也是种负担。因为根据中国的传统，参加婚礼的客人需要给新人夫妇一个装钱的红包以示祝福。
"There are no rules specifying how much money you should give at a wedding. It's generally determined by how close you are to the couple," Liu said.
刘小姐说：“没有具体的规定说参加婚礼要给多少钱红包，基本上取决于你跟新人的关系有多亲密。”
"But the common practice is to give no less than 300 to 500 yuan ($47 to $78). Sometimes, it can be a huge proportionof your salary."
“不过，一般的惯例是不能少于300到500元(47-78美元)，有时候红包会是工资的很大一部分。”
A netizennicknamed "xiaoxie", in Guangdong province, has had a similar experience. The office clerk in her twenties attended five weddings in three days during the holiday. She wrote in her blog that she had become "more familiar with the routinesof wedding ceremonies than the brides and grooms were".
一位昵称“小谢”的网友称，在广东省也有这样的习俗。20多岁的办公室文员小谢在长假期间三天内参加了5次婚礼。她在博客中写到，自己已经比新娘新郎更熟悉婚礼仪式的流程了。
As most of the eighties generation in China has reached primemarriage age, Liu, like millions of her peers, is seeing a new boom of weddings. The weeklong National Day Holiday, one of the two longest holidays in China, has become the most popular time for weddings.
在中国，由于大部分的80后已经到了黄金结婚年龄，和无数的同龄人一样，刘小姐在见证中国新的结婚潮的来临。为期一周的国庆节假期作为中国两个最长的假期之一，已经成为最流行的结婚时间。
"It's marriage season," said Liu. "Almost all of my friends are either getting married during these seven days or going to weddings."
刘小姐说，“现在是结婚季。国庆长假，基本我所有的朋友不是在结婚就是去参加婚礼。”
Although statistics on the number of marriages during the long holiday are not yet available, the Shanghai Wedding Trade Association estimates there has been at least a 20 percent increase in the number of weddings compared with the same period of last year.
虽然国庆长假期间的婚姻数量尚未有统计数据，但上海婚庆贸易协会估计，与去年同期相比，今年的婚礼数量至少上涨了20%。
"The peak season for weddings has arrived," said Zhang Jie, the office director of the Shanghai Wedding Trade Association. "And the boom is unlikely to fade for the next five years, if not longer, because the nineties generation may soon join."
“婚礼旺季已经来了。”上海婚庆贸易协会的办公室主任张洁表示，“在今后五年内，就算不能重现今年的旺季场面，这股热潮也不太可能消退，因为90后很快也会加入进来。”
With the huge demand, it's springtime for the wedding planning industry.
由于面临着巨大需求，婚礼策划行业也将迎来新的春天。
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