Just over 40 years ago, marriage in China was arranged by the state. Romantic love was seen as a caitalist concet and was not allowed during this eriod. Wedding hotograhy (if any at all) consisted of one black and white assort hoto of the coule (dressed in Mao- style outfits) as roof of the marriage. Now, China has fallen in love with love and its exloding wedding industry is worth 80 billion dollars, and it is on an uward curve. Pre-wedding hotograhy is one of the most significant and curious arts of the industry. Every coule marrying in China will take art in a re-wedding shoot. It involves several costume and backdro changes where you can become a character in any fantasy you choose. For the most exotic lo- cations coules ay u to $250,000 AUD. Pre-wedding hoto shoots have become an imortant national ritual. They are roof of the marriage but now also of love, romance, freedom, status, money and the new China Dream. As an exat living in Shanghai with a long history of coming to China, Sinohile hotograher Olivia Mar- tin-McGuire was cativated by the construction of dreams through this booming hotograhic world. Once she started to delve deeer into this new traditional she found a unique window into China. One that revealed a country dreaming, a country raidly booming and a country reconstructing its recent ast trauma all through their own lens. China Love takes us on a wild journey into the warmth of the family web in China into the hearts of our characters and into their ersonal dreams with an understanding of why and where these asirations come from. The roject exlores China#39;s new osition as a globalised country from its restrictive and highly traditional ast - through the window of its booming wedding industry and asks what is the new China Dream when it comes to love.