Guests receive gifts at weddings in Fujian

A netizen with the screen name "LZF" posted a picture on a micro blog of a wedding banquet in Changle, a county-level city in Fuzhou, Fujian province, on which a dish with a stack of 100 yuan ($16.10) notes was served and each guest was allotted a portion of several hundred yuan.

Other netizens from Changle said the phenomenon is not unusual, and the practice is followed not only at wedding banquets, but also at funeral banquets.

A local of Fuzhou,, surnamed Li, who was born in Changle, said many locals know a wedding banquet can cost at least 300,000 yuan.

Chen Xiayu, a wedding organizer from Fuzhou, said most of the weddings in Changle give money to each guest. The amounts can range from 50 yuan to 2,000 yuan for each person.

The ritual of giving guests money at weddings is not exclusive to Changle, but also occurs in other areas in Fujian province, including Jinjiang in Quanzhou, and Minhou county in Fuzhou.

The practice is a way for wealthy hosts to help fellow villagers that are not as affluent, locals said.