Following the rising popularity of the "Romantic Qingdao, a City of Mountain Pledges and Sea Vows" brand, the number of non-local couples registering for marriage in the city saw a 41.72% year-on-year increase in 2025.
Over 8,300 Non-Local Couples Choose Qingdao to Tie the Knot
In the depths of winter, the island city of Qingdao is filled with a sweet and festive atmosphere. A reporter learned from the Qingdao Civil Affairs Bureau that in 2025, a total of 54,575 couples registered for marriage city-wide, a 39.12% increase from the previous year, with the number of non-local couples getting married in Qingdao hitting a new high.
As one of China's first pilot cities for inter-provincial marriage registration services, and with the growing fame of its "Romantic Qingdao, a City of Mountain Pledges and Sea Vows" city brand, an increasing number of young people are making Qingdao a key stop on their romantic journey. In turn, Qingdao is deeply integrating "romance" with "culture and tourism," creating new one-stop "sweet consumption" scenarios and business models driven by scenic attractions, empowered by events, and focused on consumer conversion, in a full-fledged effort to establish itself as a premier wedding destination city.
Couples from Across the Nation Flock to Qingdao to Get Married
At Qingdao's highest point—the 81st floor of the Seascape in the Clouds tower—Shandong Province's first "High-Altitude Romantic Marriage Registry" was officially opened on May 20, 2025. Standing 369 meters in the clouds, newlyweds can overlook Qingdao's signature red-roofed houses, green trees, and the blue sea and sky, letting the mountains and sea bear witness to their vows of love.
Ren Hengtong from Qingdao and Yu Ling'er from Ningbo received their marriage certificate here, embarking on a new chapter in their lives. "We saw this 'high-altitude registry' at Seascape in the Clouds on Xiaohongshu (a popular social media app) and decided to get our license here, letting the mountains and sea witness our love. It's a memory we'll cherish for a lifetime."
Like them, Zhang Erxin and Sun Xintong from Harbin also chose Qingdao to tie the knot. They selected the marriage registration office at the Cruise Ship Homeport in Shibei District. After receiving their marriage certificate facing the sea, they plan a five-day, four-night wedding photoshoot and in-depth tour of Qingdao.
Placing Marriage Registries at Instagrammable Hotspots
As one of the first pilot cities for inter-provincial marriage registration, Qingdao attracts a large number of people from other regions for marriage registration and tourism every year.
How to capture the emotional experience and real needs of young people? Since last year, with "Romantic Qingdao, a City of Mountain Pledges and Sea Vows" as its core brand, Qingdao has innovatively explored a new path of integrating "marriage registration + culture and tourism." It has moved the marriage registration process to scenic spots and internet-famous locations favored by young people, cultivating 11 unique registration sites, including Anna Villa, the Cruise Ship Homeport, Jimo Ancient Town, Seascape in the Clouds, Xiangmaohe Park, and Haier Iceberg.
Take Anna Villa, for instance. This Baroque-style building, constructed in 1901, boasts a history of over 120 years and exudes a unique romanticism. As Qingdao's first distinctive marriage registration site, Anna Villa has become known among young people as the "most beautiful marriage registry in the country."
The Maogong Mountain Workstation, located in Chengyang District's Xifu Town, serves as the city's first "Red" themed mobile marriage registration point. It has already processed marriage registrations for over 400 new couples and re-issued marriage certificates for more than 300 elderly couples.
Beyond these 11 unique sites, Qingdao has woven romantic scenes into the urban fabric. Romance-themed blocks with local characteristics, such as the "Oaths by the Sea" Square on Qufu Road, the Tsingtao Beer Museum, and Jimo Ancient Town, offer newlyweds a "Qingdao vibe" distinct from other cities. The golden coastline, integrating mountains, sea, city, and bay, is connected by a "Romantic Qingdao" sweet map, featuring unique registration sites, popular photo-op locations, and tourist attractions like Anna Villa, Seascape in the Clouds, Lovers' Dam, and Wheat Island, allowing young couples to "explore all of Qingdao with one map in hand."
One-Stop Service Through Multi-Sector Integration
As an emerging consumer sector, the "sweet economy" (or romance economy) encompasses over 40 industries, including wedding services, tourism, and leisure. Its vast market potential is undoubtedly a shining pearl in the blue ocean of urban consumption.
According to statistics from the Qingdao Sweet Economy Industry Association, since the launch of the "Romantic Qingdao" sweet plan on May 20, 2025, inquiries for one-stop wedding products and destination wedding products in Qingdao had increased by nearly 40% by the end of December compared to the same period in 2024, with orders rising by 32%.
When romance and culture-tourism industries "romantically meet," the initial "visitor traffic" transforms into a substantial "retention rate," also bringing "incremental growth" to industrial development. The new track of the sweet economy is continually being broadened.
Shinan District has proposed building a "region-wide, all-element, all-population" sweet economy ecosystem, promoting "Sweet +" cross-sector integration. It has launched a series of romance-themed products, including establishing a full-chain service layout for wedding dresses, planning, photography, and jewelry, with the historic Zhongshan Road area as a key hub. The West Coast New Area is linking tourist attractions, boutique hotels, specialty B&Bs, and photography scenes to offer integrated packages like "Registration + Photoshoot," "Photoshoot + Tour," and "Banquet + Vacation," creating a coastal wedding travel destination. Laoshan District, represented by St. Roland Manor and a sea-view cloud cafe, is collaborating with surrounding specialty B&B clusters and integrating high-quality resources along the bay suitable for the wedding travel industry, developing a multi-format industry that covers services for all age groups, including full wedding packages, anniversary celebrations, and romantic cultural products.
Qingdao's enterprises are also collaborating to tap into the sweet economy while providing excellent consumer experiences for newlyweds.
Sixty-five related upstream and downstream industry associations, including the Qingdao Photography Industry Association and the Qingdao Liquor and Beverage Association, have joined forces to establish the city-wide Sweet Economy Industry Association. They have launched ten major "Romantic Qingdao" destination wedding products, integrating resources from 32 industries such as wedding banquets, photography, hotels, and B&Bs. This has formed a large-scale service cluster covering the entire "pre-wedding, wedding, and post-wedding" sweet industry ecosystem, offering over 60 exclusive discount policies for newlyweds.
During the city's first Sweet Economy Theme Month, launched this January, a sweet economy business alliance was formed for the first time in the province. It has innovatively created diverse romantic experiences such as group weddings, underwater weddings, and sea routes, achieving a deep integration of romantic scenarios and "sweet" consumption. (By Jia Zhen, Qingdao Daily / Guanhai News)
Editor: Yuan Ruichen
