On the prowl for a wedding dress in China

Mark and I have decided on Mexico for our wedding next fall. While I’m here in China, I want to pick up a wedding dress. Everything is made in China anyway, so why not? I tried on dresses in Qinhuangdao a few months ago and found them all ridiculous. Western-style dresses here have a singular theme: pretty pretty princess. And they are all dripping with bows and crystals and other various bells and whistles attached to layers and layers of material. It’s not just not my style, plus I’m getting married in a really hot place. So, I visited Beijing this weekend for a few days with Candace, a fashion-minded Bostonian who teachers at my university. Our goal: find a dress for my November wedding, or at least find out more about how to get the wedding you want in China. She gave me the dose of enthusiasm I desperately needed for dress shopping. I’d absolutely been dreading the process without my ma and sisters around.

The bus we took from Qinhuangdao to Beijing was cozy and ridiculous; the driver had the unfortunate habit of blasting really bad Chinese techno and talking on his cell phone while changing lanes with reckless abandon. And also, hitting his horn at will, which was possibly the loudest and most jarring horn I’ve ever heard. We arrived unscathed and checked into our hostel.

Candace had heard that foreigners often had dresses made at Yashow Market, and so off we went. Immediately, we were distracted by all the wonderful and lovely spring coats displayed in the place. After heated bargaining sessions, I got a red trench and Candace a funky peacoat. It was time for action, however. And so we found tailors on the third floor. They said they could make a wedding dress for 900 RMB, which is about $126. The suits and dresses displayed at the place were impeccable, plus the employee spoke perfect English.The only problem? They have lots of silks there, but my dress also has lace and tulle. Hmmph. We got mani-pedis and plotted our next move.

That night, we hit the town in our new coats. At a club, I learned the secret of the foreign community. They bring their own material to the tailor, who makes their clothes for half as much. We decided to go and try to find material for the dress that I wanted the next day.

The next morning, Candace and I found a wedding district in Beijing. I tried on perhaps 10 dresses, but again, they all had the same theme as in Qinhuangdao: pretty pretty princess.The dresses were also priced at about 2,000 RMB or more, and the material wasn’t the best. The tailor option was looking better and better. We ditched the stores and set off instead in search of material for the dress. We found a textiles district, after a three-plus hour search. Part of the problem was that we didn’t have a visual on what, exactly, we were looking for. I kept thinking we would find a gigantic, Chinese version of JoAnn Fabrics. That didn’t happen. The market we were looking for is called Mu Xi Wen, and we indeed found it. But, it was the wrong one, a place that sold textiles for upholstery, bedding and curtains. It wasn’t a single place, either. There were two big buildings and then, further down the street, rustic little rows of open stalls, bolts of fabric leaning against the walls.

I didn’t get a dress, but I got the facts, had a great weekend and learned to navigate the city a bit better, and on my own. I’ll visit the city again soon.