Society

Divorce feast in Jinan

By Li Qian (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-07-12 11:26

A peculiar divorce ceremony, the first in the city's history, was held in the first half of the year in Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong Province, reported the Qilu Evening News Monday. .

According to the Jinan Wedding Ceremony Association, the ceremony was conducted in February, and both the man and woman in the couple were seniors.

Their marriage lasted four years, and they had a good relationship before the wife decided to go abroad and they began to see differences between their futures. Eventually, the couple opted to terminate their relationship in a rational and peaceful way.

An official of the Wedding Ceremony Association said a wedding ceremony company presided over the ritual, where the couple laid 14 feast tables and invited nearly a hundred friends and colleagues from their respective companies.

The couple gave back the rings and a watch after a friend who witnessed the couple's marriage read and showed their divorce agreement.

The man then presented his ex-wife an English science book. The woman gave her ex-husband ornament made from jequirity beans.

At the end of the ceremony, they put out twenty-three flaming candles together and toasted each other.

In countries such as the US and Japan, some people also hold such divorce ceremonies in hopes of healing the wounds of a failed marriage and celebrating a brand new life.