Chang Benfu and his wife Zhao Xuefang pose for a wedding photo. (Photo/ HSW.cn)
They never expected such a romantic moment. After decades spent together, this couple thought there was nothing left in life that could surprise them. But they were happily proved wrong.
Last Friday, a group of college students in northwest China's Shaanxi Province offered to shoot wedding photos for this senior couple, and the scenes they captured soon created a buzz online.
Chang Benfu and his wife Zhao Xuefang are in their 80s. They have lived their lives in peace and quiet, surrounded by a big, happy family. Their only regret goes back to the beginning of their happiness, when, as Chang complained while at his grandson's wedding ceremony, "we had nothing at all and we just got married."
Upon hearing that, student Li Huan and a group of his classmates came up with the idea of taking wedding photos for the couple, naming the project "Wedding photos for Grandpa and Grandma".
The gentle morning sunlight saw the group of youngsters shoot a series of warm and moving pictures of the senior couple last Friday. The images took inspiration from the couple's daily habits, only that they were dressed up in their wedding gladrags. "Grandpa was shy. We suggested that he kiss grandma on her forehead, but he wouldn't do that."
When they were young, weddings were simple affairs, with a certificate given to the couple the only evidence of their marriage. But their happiness has been solid and profound. They have built such a big home that 53 names appear under theirs on a very large family tree.
The wedding photography industry is big business in China today, and worth some 205 billion yuan (30 billion U.S. dollars.) The entire wedding industry itself is worth 800 billion yuan (130 billion U.S. dollars).
