Group wedding held on frozen Sino-Russian border lake

HARBIN, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The temperature was below minus 10 degrees Celsius, but twenty couples, wearing thin dresses or traditional costumes, held a group wedding ceremony on Khanka Lake in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Tuesday.

Four couples came from Russia. Pavel Karasev and Elena Kazakova had been dating for five years before crossing the border for their wedding in China.

"I have always wanted to come here. It is very meaningful to celebrate our wedding with so many couples," Karasev said.

Liu Yongshuang, a Chinese groom, believed the white world of ice and snow made a romantic and pure love story. "I promised to give my wife the most romantic wedding in the world, and this is perfect for us," he said.

This was the first group wedding to be held on Khanka Lake. Sitting on the border between China and Russia, the lake and its surrounding area attract many tourists who come to take part in autocross, ice and snow-related sports and cultural activities. Enditem