CHINA: Older couples are making up for the greyness of their Cultural Revolution weddings, writes Clifford Coonan in Shanghai
Getting married during the Cultural Revolution, which began 40 years ago this week, was straightforward and dull - you went in your working clothes and got a monochrome photograph, your marriage licence, plus a patriotic lampshade or a mirror depicting triumphant scenes from the Long March. Bride and groom got hitched while Red Guards roamed the streets denouncing intellectuals and thousands suffered and died in a 10-year period of ideological frenzy.
In the new China, people are keen to spend recently acquired freedoms and cash on bringing some colour back into their lives, and middle-aged couples who tied the knot during the hard-line leftist years can relive their big day at the Red Twilight Wedding Photography Studio in Shanghai's French Concession area. They're having their wedding pictures retaken in grand style, with white gowns and morning suits, traditional qi pao dresses and sequined outfits.
Dressers rush around the studio and the air is filled with the rustle of silks and "oohs" and "aahs" as the brides step out of the changing rooms in their chosen outfits. The wedding albums are called "Kisses with Flowers", "Only Love" and "Pure" and they celebrate "a groovy kind of love" - a far cry from little red books with the thoughts of Chairman Mao. Beside the photographs of fabulously attired, middle-aged beauties and greying grooms there are captions of great poignancy in English, such as "I've loved you ever since I saw you".
"In the old days, people like my parents went to the local government office to have their monochrome picture taken. They wore whatever clothes they had on and there was no ceremony, all very plain. A lot of people got married during the Cultural Revolution when it was very simple. Our customers want to have more colourful, more extravagant clothes," said Red Twilight's manager Zhong Lili.
People are still happy in many of the photographs you see of Cultural Revolution-era nuptials, but extravagant weddings, in fact any displays of gaiety that did not celebrate the revolution, were frowned upon as bourgeois decadence that needed to be crushed.
The studio doesn't do regular photographs of young people getting married and is deliberately targeted at the over-40s - the most senior older-weds to date were 90 years of age. It started life as a community service and thousands of people have had their snaps redone in the four years of operation, with an average of five couples visiting the shop every day.
"My original pictures were black and white, which we then hand-tinted. My husband can't come because he's too busy, but me and my friends all came together to have the pictures taken. The men can come along later," said one bride, who was wearing an opulent blue gown. One of her friends was holding up the hem of a traditional western white gown, while a third wore a Japanese kimono and her hair was styled in geisha fashion. No sign of Sino-Japanese tensions in this studio.
After make-up sessions, the couples pose in front of a series of back-drops, which include Greek island scenery, doves or falling roses. The whole process takes about three hours.
Most people choose not to renew their vows and are happy just to have the photographs retaken, maybe with a dinner or small banquet. Many get the photographs taken on their anniversaries and most of the photo albums are paid for by dutiful children. The price is low for a series of photographs; about 300 yuan, or €30.
What no one does is wear the Mao jackets they wore during the old days.
"It's all focused on the modern. In Shanghai in particular the living standard has gone up quite a bit recently and this is what people want," said Ms Zhong. "The people are really happy when they go out of here, you only see huge smiles."