Dressed in white wedding dresses and black suits, seven couples posed with big smiles in front of unfinished buildings or gardens they helped build.

The Chinese couples working at a construction site in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, took wedding pictures at and nearby their worksite on Monday, right before this year's Qixi Festival, which falls on August 25.

The grooms and brides chose different background scenarios at the site, including the pavilion, a garden, a gate, and even unfinished buildings. 

For some, this was the first time they took wedding photos.

"We didn't even take a photo together when we got married, and I always felt I owed her something," said Xu Aiguo, a 57-year-old builder from Hunan, adding that their family was too poor to cover the extra expense at that time. The new pictures are the first wedding photos out of the 35 years of their marriage.

"Before, we had worked at different construction sites in various cities across China, and I've never imagined that one day, I would take these wedding photos here in Changsha," Xu's wife Deng Xiuzhen added.

The unique wedding pictures soon went viral online, gaining over one million views on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo before the Qixi Festival arrived.

Many netizens described it as being "romance at the building site," while some commented that "there is no distinction on occupation, and you're the most beautiful building workers and couples."

Their company China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) fully supported the project and acknowledged their contribution as dedicated, hard-working workers, according to Xinhua.

Changsha couples are not the only ones who celebrated the romantic occasion at their building site.

Three couples working at the CSCEC's division in central China's Tianjin City have also taken special wedding photos last week ahead of the Chinese Valentines' Day.

The photoshoot was an anniversary gift from the company to migrant workers couples, working on different building sites for many years and that have been married for more than 25 years.

Today, August 25, marks the Qixi Festival, or the Chinese Valentine's Day. As one of China's major traditional festivals, it falls on the seventh day of the seventh month on the Chinese lunar calendar.

The festival originated from a 2,000-year-old love tale telling the story of the annual get-together between the mythological Cowherd and Weaver Girl.

(Cover image designed by Yin Yating)

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