Elderly couple holding hands walked into the celebration site
Having been married for 70 years, at the age of 86, they finally wore wedding dresses for the first time. Yesterday, at the Chongqing Elderly Golden Wedding Anniversary Celebration hosted by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Chongqing Municipal Government as part of the Fourth China (Chongqing) Senior Industry Expo, Mr. Zhang Shiying and Ms. Peng Bangfu walked onto the red carpet together.
Yesterday afternoon, the Golden Wedding Anniversary Celebration was held grandly in the Guanyin Bridge Pedestrian Street. Ten golden wedding couples selected through online voting were dressed in formal attire, with brides wearing wedding gowns, becoming the main characters of this wedding ceremony. Under the witness of more than a thousand citizens, the elderly couples exchanged wedding rings and received large red Golden Wedding certificates issued by the organizing committee.
Among the ten golden wedding couples, the retired model worker from the Yangtze River Rubber Factory, Mr. Zhang Shiying and Ms. Peng Bangfu, had the longest marriage, lasting 70 years, surpassing the golden wedding threshold by 20 years. Today, after 70 years, the Zhang Shiying couple has a large family with four generations totaling 28 people.
The oldest main character at yesterday's Golden Wedding Anniversary Celebration was the retired teacher couple from Chongqing University, Mr. Song Jianzhong and Ms. Yi Tai Deng, aged 90 and 88 respectively, with a marriage duration of 60 years. When recalling their decades-long marital life, Mr. Song Jianzhong accurately stated their wedding anniversary: October 11, 1949.
People feel refreshed when encountering happy events, and many of the elderly at the Golden Wedding Anniversary Celebration yesterday were inspired to write poems. The first to speak, the 78-year-old retired official from the Science and Technology Commission, Mr. Che Xichang, expressed his feelings to his wife: "In heaven, we wish to be birds flying wing to wing; on earth, we wish to be trees growing branches intertwined." The 76-year-old retired official from the Commerce Commission, Mr. Hu Maokun, looked forward to the future: "Enhance physical fitness through diligent exercise, striving to accompany each other for a hundred years." The 77-year-old retired official from the Economic Commission, Mr. Liang Zhushi, spoke most straightforwardly: "Love each other to the end, help each other to the end, and accompany each other to the end."
At the celebration, the elderly couples revealed their secrets to maintaining love. The couple with the longest marriage, Mr. Zhang Shiying, shared his 22-word maxim that he has followed for 70 years: "In hardship, survive nine deaths and respect each other like guests; in happiness, laugh nine times a day, becoming more youthful with age." He explained that to win a happy marriage, one should emulate Tang Bohu courting Qiuxiang - three laughs in the morning, three in the afternoon, and three in the evening, adding up to nine laughs a day. The former president of Chongqing University, Mr. Wu Yunpeng, at the age of 73, reminded the younger generation that between spouses, they should "tolerate flaws and appreciate strengths," while also "cherishing what you have and restraining greed."
Reported by Chen Bin, photos by Bi Ke.
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