How a medieval English abbey became a Chinese wedding destination

Qing Li and her husband flew from China to marry in Selby Abbey [Photo BBC]

More than a decade after a Taiwanese popstar tied the knot in Selby Abbey, brides from China are still flocking to the 1,000-year-old church in search of the same fairytale backdrop.

Standing at the heart of the North Yorkshire market town, the medieval abbey was where Jay Chou married his Australian model wife Hannah Quinlivan in 2015.

Ever since, it has been transformed into an international wedding destination, with many fans turning up to soak up the abbey’s grandeur.

The Revd Canon John Weetman, vicar at the abbey, said there was “quite a demand” from Chinese couples and more than 30 weddings were booked in this year.

One bride, Qing Li, explained her reason for flying from China to marry there.

She said: “I love York and another personal reason is there was a Chinese celebrity who had their wedding here.”

Another visitor, Isobel, from Beijing, said she had chosen to visit the venue after watching videos of Chou’s wedding online.

“We came here because we are fans of Jay Chou and their wedding was so splendid.”

Meanwhile, Weetman said the influx of visitors to the abbey started the day after the celebrity couple’s ceremony.

While couples would usually need to fulfil certain criteria to be able to get married at the church, such as living in the parish or attending services regularly, a spokesperson said the venue also offered a “blessing” service not governed by marital law and without any qualifying criteria.

Chou, who is still married to Quinlivan, with the couple having three children together, had a blessing ceremony in 2015, the spokesperson added.

“From the very next day, we had people coming to visit – Chinese students and people coming over from China on their holidays.

“York obviously gets a lot of Chinese visitors and a number of those were making a detour and coming here.”

He said the demand for weddings was such that he had to turn couples away.

“Because we have quite a demand we do restrict them to no more than one a week.

“Last year we had 25 and this year we have more than 30 booked in but the demand is more than two or three times that.” BBC News