Tianya Haijiao International Wedding Festival

This festival, held on July 7th of traditional Chinese calendar, is a huge, collective wedding celebration. Couples from around the world come to Sanya for the festival eager to say their vows together in this elaborate ceremony.

Tianya Haijiao means the furthermost part of the sky and the sea in Chinese, suggesting an unattainable place. In the past, Chinese people believed that the sky was square and the earth was round. Therefore there was definitely a furthermost part of the sky and the earth. Hainan Province, the southernmost part of China, was believed to be the location of Tianya Haijiao.