There are two types of marraige bureau in Shanghai , one where Chinese marry Chinese and another it seems dedicated and geared up for Chinese to marry a foreigner.
So of course we went to the wrong one first :icon_cheesygrin: , when looking at the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau it looked like a tidy building as many do in Shanghai , one the ground floor all of the corridor and the lift doors all of a sudden looked very grotty and i dreaded what i was going to see on the 3rd floor , but thankfully all was very good there.
A short corridor with signs in English and Chinese , this was the plave to get married or divorced , we passed large frosted glass doors which hid the ceremony room , we entered a large waiting room, flower displays, chairs and tables to wait at, wedding magazines.. etc , with a long counter at one end with about four pairs of chairs along it , with well dressed smart staff going about their business.
We spoke to one and i showed her my certificate of no impediment and stat dec , after looking at these we were sent to the next room along , this was the translation room , quite dated with a very old man at a desk, lots of books and a table , he looked at the documents and sent us back to the first girl to check if both documents needed translating , a minute later we were back in the translation room only the stat dec needed translation ,, they didnt seem interested in the certificate of no impediment! Ok so we left the document with him and he started straight away , along to the next room we went , this contained the photographer.
We had individual and couple snaps , he was very good , you get to look at the images on the digital camera before he prints and trims them to size , cost 160rmb , you can have as many copies as you like all for a fee of course , another women in this room then trys to sell you a photo session in the ceremony room , as all chinese women are frugal , mine said save money , but i wanted this and to be honest i would advise everyone to have them done . abouut 250yuan i think , anyway more work to do before these are taken.
Back to the translator .. hand over about 300yuan and get the translation
Back to the large waiting room (which was empty) .. to the counter , a very helpful young girl (who could speak english) gave us two forms , one each , one in chinese one in english , the basics name , address , martial status , no blood relation etc ..
The girl double checks everything , i saw my lady hand over 10yuan , i didnt ask why i guess admin charge , anyway the red books are printed and photographs stuck in them . It amused me in these modern times as the girl had a large glass jar of white glue and an large artists paint brush, the books were then placed under a dryer to speed the setting of the glue
As we wanted the extra photos we then are let into the ceremony room , lots of artifical flowers on a stage with a plinth with a big book on it , chinese flag in the corner , other end of the room a digital camera on a tripod ,
There are a series of five set photo shots
1. both behind the plinth , man holding up the two red books
2. both under the flag , reading their red books
3. both under the flag looking at the offical as she asks questions like will you honour your family
4. the lady signing the book as the man watches her
5. man signing book , lady watching
back to the photo room now .. to look at the photos as choose (they take more than one shot for each pose) , these are then put in a really nice red folder . Once again you can pay extra and have as many copies as you like.
Next you get offered a little wooden box to put the red books in , its cute and only 50yuan so i decided its not the time to be tight , i wanted it
Then we went to the next little office , i wasnt really needed here only to hand over another 150yuan , my lady said it was so she could get her visa in the future , i cant remember the title on the door but it did say notary , so im thinking its a confirmation of the wedding. My lady was given some paperwork in chinese and then it was time to go
altogether i guess about 30 - 45 minutes , it was quiet there
we were the 18th couple to get married there in 2010 a lucky number the photographer said , sounds in chinese a bit like 'want luck
