When the buses are hired, bus drivers will be provided, while the bus route can be customised. PHOTO: CHANGSHA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY/XIAOHONGSHU
NANCHANG (China Daily/ANN): Adorned with red ribbons on the nose and paper cuttings of auspicious Chinese characters on the windows, a public electric bus was transformed into a wedding bus, cutting a dashing figure on the road.
“The wedding bus is spacious enough to accommodate my family and friends. We sat together and had a jolly time singing and playing games along the way,” said newly-wed Zhang Qingqing, who rented a bus for her wedding day transport in Nanchang city, capital of East China’s Jiangxi Province.
In China, it has been a common practice for couples to hire a fleet of some 10 sedans on their big day to transport them and their guests to the wedding venue.
“It would cost a lot, and my family and friends have to be scattered in different cars, where it is easy to feel bored and lonely,” said Zhang.
Before the wedding, Zhang found out through a social media platform that hiring a wedding bus was in vogue among many young newly-weds.
The photos of various novel, unique and trendy wedding buses shared by netizens captured Ms Zhang’s heart instantly.
“It resonates with our taste as young people. Our parents and friends all liked our ideas,” said Mr Wang Yu’an, Ms Zhang’s husband.
The couple soon booked a wedding bus through wedding bus hire service provider Jiangxi Nanchang Public Transportation Group.
On the eve of their wedding day, the couple arrived at the carpark where the bus was parked and decorated it with ribbons, paper cuttings and balloons along with their friends. Everyone felt involved, the couple said.
According to the Nanchang Public Transportation Group, since the launch of the wedding bus hire service in March 2023, the company has seen approximately 100 couples hiring public buses for their weddings, and almost all of them are young people born after 1995.
Nanchang Public Transportation Group’s Xu Rong, an assistant to the general manager, said when the buses are hired, bus drivers will be provided, while the bus route can be customised according to the couple’s preferences.
The wedding bus hire services are also available in multiple cities in provinces like Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shandong. The bus rental prices range from several hundred to thousands of yuan per vehicle per day, based on the distance travelled and the length of time the bus is occupied.
Newly-wed couple Ma Yuxuan and Cai Yang from Qingdao city, East China’s Shandong province, decked their hired wedding bus with festive decorations and placed their wedding photos and creative stickers both inside and outside.
“This is a stylish and novel wedding bus that is exclusive to us,” said newly-wed Cai, adding that some of their friends were drawn in by the cheerful atmosphere and have also considered hiring buses on their big day.
Recalling her wedding day, Tang Shanqing, a newly-wed from Suqian city in Jiangsu province, could not stop reminiscing about her splendid wedding bus experience.
“Passers-by took photos of us, other drivers rolled down the windows to greet us, and we gave our wedding candies to children after school... I felt like the people in the whole city witnessed and shared our happiness,” she said.
Tang noted that instead of hiring sedans, using a public bus as the wedding vehicle is green, low-carbon and environmentally friendly, which aligns with young people’s values and lifestyle. -- China Daily/Asia News Network
