In photos: the traditional weddings of Hainan's Li (Hlai) People

By Marian Rosenberg / HICN / Updated: 15:37,03-November-2022

One of China's 56 ethnic groups, the Li (also known as the Hlai), and their unique culture, are a beautiful example of the richness Hainan has to offer to the world above and beyond becoming the world's largest free trade port. Hainan's tropical rainforests and the traditional settlements of the Li people are currently under evaluation by UNESCO for the possibility of being inscribed as a dual cultural and natural World Heritage Site. On October 24, the “Exploring the Li” documentary collection activity officially began in Haikou. Once the launch ceremony was finished, expert folklorists and cultural researchers headed off to the center of the island and Zayun Township’s Guangyi Village for a traditional Li wedding.

Maintaining their people’s long historical practice, the rural areas of Qiongzhong, Wuzhishan, and other places with large numbers of Li people, frequently still hold this type of traditional ethnic wedding. Even to an inexperienced outsider, the celebration is a carrier for important information about the Li people's history, culture, and social life. At the scene, attendees participated in and experienced several traditional marriage practices. Customs such as the payment of the bride price by the groom’s family, her birth family sending her off to her new family, her reception and welcome by his family, her first entrance into her new home, and the wedding banquet display the colorful habits of the Li.