The marriage market is a whole street filled with parents who have displays with all kinds of information about their child so that they can try to find potential candidates for a husband or wife. Chinese wedding ceremonies are fun and beautiful. When a man proposes, there is typically a meeting between the parents. Sometimes the groom's parents will propose to the bride’s parents themselves! Then they make an agreement and the families will dine together to celebrate the proposal. This is an important part of the beginning of a couple's marriage because they should seek approval from both sides. The groom and his parents are typically supposed to pay for the wedding celebration in China. The bride’s parents may also give money and gifts to the groom’s parents as what is called a "dowry". The night before the ceremony, the bride stays with her parents. On the morning of the wedding, the groom and his groomsmen must come to pick up the bride. When they arrive at the bride's house they are blocked by her family members and must participate in games and challenges to enter the house. Some examples are passing spoons with their mouths, doing push-ups and finding the bride's shoes. When they finish the challenges, the groom goes to a room decorated in red where his bride is wearing a traditional red dress and red silk covering her face. Then the groom must carry the bride to a car or sometimes carriage and they head to the ceremony, but he must make sure her feet don’t touch the ground. In very traditional weddings, they may be brought to the wedding in a sedan chair.
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