City marriage offices set up at nine scenic locations have issued 9,816 marriage licenses this year, a 176 percent jump from last year, as Qingdao markets itself as "North China's No 1 romantic city".

No 3 Bathing Beach becomes a romantic backdrop for outdoor wedding photos. [Photo/Qingdao Daily]

Anna Villa in Shinan is now considered the "most beautiful marriage registration office in the country" among young couples. [Photo/Qingdao Daily]

Anna Villa, a 1901 Baroque mansion in Shinan district, has become the most popular site with more than 2,000 unions, while Tsingtao Haitian View & Art, on the 81st floor of a 369-meter tower, offers the province's first "marriage office in the air". Other pop-up registers are in operation at the cruise terminal, Xiaomai Island, and traditional photo spots like Zhanqiao Pier and Badaguan.

The municipal civil affairs bureau credits the surge to its "marriage registration + cultural tourism" program, which has adopted the slogan "vows by the sea and mountains, romantic Qingdao". Roughly 70 percent of the city's 200,000 annual wedding-photo clients now arrive from other cities.

Officials say the initiative turns social-media traffic into measurable economic gains: local florists, photographers and hotels report record bookings, and a full supply-chain "sweet economy" is taking shape.

With its mountains and sea, Qingdao perfectly frames vows made by both. [Photo/Qingdao Daily]