"How romantic!" I thought as I stepped onto the Bund on a rare clear blue day in Shanghai. Posing at the railing overlooking the Huangpu River was a young couple dressed in a traditional white gown and tux. As the wedding photography team fussed over hair, makeup and lighting, the tourist that had come to enjoy one of the most popular spots in Shangahai were busy with their own photographs. Families posed against the ultra modern skyscrapers across the river on the Pudong side while looking toward an older part of Shanghai's history.
The Bund is the section of Zhongshan Road that houses the many European styled buildings built in the early 1900's by financial and trading institutions from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, United States, Russia and Japan. Imposing buildings in an old European style these buildings which I would soon learn make beautiful backdrops for Shanghai wedding photos. On the Pudong side of the Bund are some of the world's tallest buildings, original creations showcasing the New China.
A few steps past the first wedding couple I saw another wedding couple and then another couple after that. I wondered if it was an especially lucky day in the calendar that would bring out all of these couples to the same location to take wedding pictures but after doing a quick google search I found nothing to indicate that day as particularly auspicious. Then I wondered if it was a photo shoot for a wedding magazine. Some brides were dressed in traditionally western white gowns while most others dressed in red gowns which is a lucky color for the Chinese. I had to laugh when I saw more than one bride beautifully dressed in flowing white raise up her dress as she walked to her photo shoot and reveal her true style with bright leggings combat boots. After seeing more than 20 couples in less than half an hour I decided to stop wondering why they were all there and just enjoy the show.
Here's a bit of what I saw:
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