负担不起的乡村爱情! 我国部分农民'因婚致贫'!

One's wedding day is often considered the happiest day of a person's life. The same can not be said for the parents of a groom in rural China, where saving face and social pressure often leave them in debt for years.

一个人的婚礼当天通常会被认为是人生当中最幸福的一天。但这句话对于中国农村的新郎的父母来说却并不正确，因为面子问题和社会压力往往使他们负债累累。

Wang Yueguo, from Shandong, managed to scrape together enough money to pay for his son's marriage last month. The wedding completely drained the family's savings and left them with a debt that will take a decade to repay.

山东的王越国上个月终于为儿子的婚事凑够了钱。婚礼不仅耗光了这个家的全部积蓄，还让他们背上了一笔10年才能还完的债务。

"My son's marriage cost me more than 200,000 yuan, including about 100,000 yuan that I borrowed from relatives and friends," said Wang, whose family earns about 30,000 yuan a year from farming.

全家上下每年通过种地才能收入3万元的王越国表示：“我儿子结婚花了我20多万，其中有大约10万元是我从亲戚和朋友那儿借来的。”

Wang is among many parents in parts of China's rural areas who feel pressured to splurge on their sons' weddings to secure a daughter-in-law and avoid losing face.

在我国部分农村地区，许多父母为了娶回一个儿媳妇、保住脸面，顶着压力为儿子的婚礼大操大办，王越国只是其中一个。

In China, it is expected that the family of the bridegroom will buy a house, pay for the wedding ceremony and provide betrothal gifts. In the countryside, where people earn less, but tend to maintain traditions more, families often spend most of their hard-earned savings on weddings.

在我国，人们期待由新郎的家庭买房、出钱办婚礼和出彩礼。在农村地区，人们赚得少，却往往更遵循传统，因此家庭常常把辛苦攒下的大部分积蓄都花在婚礼上。

According to a survey conducted last year in Linyi, Shandong, weddings in the city's rural areas cost at least RMB200,000, the equivalent of four to five years' income for a local family of four.

去年一项在山东临沂展开的调查显示，该市农村地区的婚礼至少要花费20万元，相当于当地一个四口之家四五年的收入总和。

Some families struggling to cope with debts incurred by a wedding have even been dragged into poverty, the survey showed.

调查显示，一些家庭因应付婚礼的债务而陷入挣扎，甚至被拖入贫困。