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SICHUAN PROVINCE, China: Almost a year after a devastating earthquake struck Sichuan, bells are ringing again for a very different reason this time round.
Twenty couples in Jina Village have tied the knot in a Qiang-style mass wedding, sponsored by the Beichuan county government, as families and friends gathered to celebrate and witness the happy occasion.
Jina, a Qiang village in Beichuan, was the first to be rebuilt after the May 12 earthquake. Of the more than 70,000 people who lost their lives, more than 12,000 were from Beichuan.
The mass wedding attracted hordes of media attention with more than a hundred journalists reporting on it. But the publicity was no deterrent to some who were clearly excited to be planting the seeds of a new beginning.
Zhang Lan, farmer and earthquake survivor, said: "We met each other through friends and I love her because we suffered so much when the quake struck. We got through it together, all the difficulties and sorrow. We understand each other's suffering and that's how our love grew."
41-year-old Liu Ming Hua, who lost his wife in the quake last year, said fate was the reason he was marrying again.
"I didn't think of remarrying, but through a friend, I met my new wife and it was fate. She has an almost 90 per cent resemblance to my late wife. Her built is similar to my late wife. They were both born in the same year and month, and their birthdays are just three days apart. What a coincidence," he said.
The oldest couple who got married at the event was 61-year-old Wei Ying Fan and 58-year-old Feng De Qiong who had both lost their spouses in the quake.
But the happy faces belied the suffering some have endured. 31-year-old Zhang Xue Mei was so overcome by emotion that she could not finish her interview with Channel NewsAsia.
She had lost both her husband and son in the earthquake, but Zhang is happy to be starting a new life with her new husband.
Toasting to a new future, the lucky couples will get an all-expenses paid, five-day honeymoon to Sanya in Hainan province.
Officials said more than 2,000 locals lost their spouses in the earthquake, but for these 20 couples, the day marks a new beginning for them and a new journey.
- CNA/so
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