Giving new meaning to the term "classmate," 15 young couples from a single university class of 43 students held a joint wedding ceremony in Chengdu, southwest China, on Sunday.

　　5月21日，一场特别的集体婚礼在成都举行。现场15对情侣均来自某大学一个43人的班级，他们为“同班同学”一词赋予了新的含义。

　　The couples all got together during a four-year undergraduate course in nearby Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province and eight of the couples were already married. Their trip to Chongqing was one of the pre-graduation blowouts that many Chinese classes take.

　　这些情侣均来自四川成都某高校，在本科四年课程期间确定了恋爱关系，目前已有八对正式领证。此次的重庆之行也不过是这些学生在毕业之前的庆祝活动之一，国内很多学生都会如此。

　　Liu Chao (pseudonym), the key planner of the ceremony and one of the bridegrooms, told the Chengdu Evening News that the event was intended to strengthen their classmate relationships.

　　此次集体婚礼的策划者——同时也是新郎之一刘超(化名)在接受《成都晚报》采访时表示该仪式是为了进一步加强同学之间的关系。

　　Liu prepared fake diamond rings, rented wedding outfits and hired a team to decorate the venue, in a Chongqing scenic spot.

　　刘超事先准备好了仿真钻戒，特意租了婚纱礼服并专门雇用一个团队前来重庆的景区搭建并装饰婚礼现场。

　　The joint wedding was also a cost-saving initiative for the young, cash-strapped lovers. Many of their friends and strangers chipped in, and the scenic spot even offered the venue for free. The bash cost just over 600 yuan (87 US dollars) per person, according to Liu.

　　对于那些资金尚且不足的年轻情侣来说，这场集体婚礼节省了不少开支。许多朋友和陌生人都纷纷拿出了份子钱，景区甚至免费借给他们做场地。据刘超透露，最后算下来每个人的花费不过也就600(合87美元)多块。

　　Chinese on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, were divided over the event. Some sent their best wishes to the couples while some others questioned whether they were taking marriage seriously.

　　新浪微博的各位网友对这场集体婚礼却持有不同看法，一些人表示衷心祝福这些情侣，也有一些人质疑这些年轻人是否对婚姻持认真态度。

　　"From statistics, we can see only 10 percent of college couples get married, so this is quite a rare case. I bless them, but it should also be treated rationally as some naive students may follow them to marry at a young age," @pengshangqiangyuzhengquanwulixue said.

　　一位名为“彭商强与证券物理学”的新浪网友评论道：“从数据来看，一般大学情侣只有10%的比例最后结婚，所以这种事例确实罕见。我祝福他们，但同时也应该理性看待，毕竟这很可能导致有些天真的学生也跟风早早结婚。”

　　It is certainly unusual for love to blossom like this among such a small group. Many Chinese students leave education single – and often stay that way. There were nearly 350 million unmarried men and women in China at the end of 2015, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

　　事实上，这种一个班盛产如此多对情侣的情况确实罕见。许多学生在从学校毕业之时仍是单身，并在之后的生活中也依然保持单身。据国家统计局统计，截止到2015年底中国的未婚男女数量高达3.5亿。

　　Understanding the huge population of singles, the Chinese Communist Youth League announced in April that it would start organizing its own matchmaking and social events to regulate the wider matchmaking industry.

　　鉴于中国大批单身男女仍然留存的情况，中国共产主义青年团在4月份公布将自行组织相亲联谊等社会活动，以便整顿愈加繁荣的婚介行业。

（编辑：何莹莹）