New bride: Wu Ruibiao’s daughter was given four boxes of gold jewellery, a bankbook with deposits worth £2m and an impressive property portfolio
A wealthy Chinese tile magnate gave his daughter a gigantic £100million dowry that included four boxes of gold jewellery, two luxury cars, shares and several homes for her lavish wedding.
The extravagant gift included four boxes of gold jewellery, a bankbook with deposits worth £2m (20m yuan) and an impressive property portfolio.
Pictures of the generous dowry were posted online on Sunday, at the end of the ’eight-day banquet’, which took place in Cizao town, Jinjiang county, in eastern China’s Fujian province.
Wu Duanbiao, chairman of ceramics firm Fujian Wanli Group, gave his daughter’s new husband real estate including a retail store in Quanzhou, the Olympic villas and the Wanda mansion.
He also bequeathed the newlyweds 500m shares in his ceramics firm worth more than £10m (100m yuan) as well as a Porsche and a Mercedes which draped with red ribbons.
Wu, 54, also gave donations worth £1.5m (15m yuan) to two charities, according to local media reports.
The full extent his wealth is not known and company records show he only drew a salary of £12,000 last year.
His wife described the groom as ‘an outstanding young man’ saying: ‘He gets his bread from the government.
‘As parents, we certainly want our child’s life to be more stable than our lives as entrepreneurs.’
The bride is already on the board of her father’s company and reportedly masterminded a recent stock market listing in Korea.
The bridegroom, a civil servant whose surname is Xu, had known his new wife since they were classmates in kindergarten.
With these rings: Just some of the valuable jewellery included in Miss Wu's dowryWith these rings:
Just some of the valuable jewellery included in Miss Wu’s dowry to her civil servant husband
Perfect present: The groom - a civil servant - will now be the proud owner of prime real estate including a retail store in Quanzhou, Olympic villas and the Wanda mansionPerfect present: The groom – a civil servant – will now be the proud owner of prime real estate including a retail store in Quanzhou, Olympic villas and the Wanda mansion
A spokesman for Wu’s firm, Wanli management, confirmed the endowment, but denied the wedding was to be the ‘eight day open-air banquet’ described in the internet post and said that Wu would ‘keep things simple’.
The post claimed the wedding banquet was beginning on December 28 would last eight days to entertain public guests.
Bride and joy: Miss Wu, whose father is a tile magnate, poses for the cameras. He father also gave donations worth £1.5m to two charitiesBride and joy: Miss Wu, whose father is a tile magnate, poses for the cameras. He father also gave donations worth £1.5m to two charities
Many readers of the weibo website praised Wu for donating to charities and his display of love for his daughter, according to South China Morning Post.
Bestowing expensive dowries has long been a Fujian marriage tradition, particularly in the Jinjiang and Shishi areas.
The tradition is sometimes seen as a manifestation of gender inequality in the region, because expensive dowries are supposed to ensure the bride will be treated well by her husband and in-laws
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BETTER THAN ROBBING A BANK? THE JINJIANG DOWRY TRADITION
The practice of bestowing generous dowries has long been a Fujian marriage custom, particularly in the Jinjiang and Shishi areas.
But since China’s economic explosion has created super-wealthy upper classes, the tradition has increasingly become an important measure of a family’s importance and status.
The billionaire businessmen of Jinjiang now compete over who can amass the largest dowries.
One Hong Kong newspaper recently described marrying a girl from Jinjiang as being ‘better than robbing a bank’.
Some claim the practice is a manifestation of gender inequality, because expensive dowries are supposed to ensure the bride will be treated well by her husband and in-laws.
Of course most Chinese families cannot afford such expensive gifts and traditional dowry items include:
* Bedding such as pillows blankets and bed sheets
* New clothes for the bride presented in a suitcase
* A tea set for the wedding’s tea ceremony
* Baby items including pottys and baby bathtubs
* Two pairs of red wooden clogs, wedding slippers or bedroom slippers
* A sewing basket (with an even number of rolls of thread)
* Gold jewellery given by bride’s parents
Last month, another Jinjiang billionaire married off his daughter with a dowry worth more than 2billion yuan, following the example of Hengan International’s chairman, who paid 2.5 billion yuan
for his niece’s wedding a year ago.
- South China Morning Post
