Wedding boom

last updated 8 January 2015

Beijing

Thousands of couples rushed to the altar in China this week after the government made it easier to get a marriage license. For decades, each potential bride or groom was required to provide a letter from their communist work unit, or danwei, confirming that they were single. That often meant that young people had to beg their bosses for permission to marry—only to be denied out of pettiness or workplace politics. Now, though, more and more Chinese work in the private sector, so requiring danwei approval has become outdated. In case the new marriages don’t work out, unhappy couples also no longer need their employers’ permission to get divorced.