Thousands of Strangers Attend Orphaned Groom’s Wedding in China

A 24-year-old man who feared his wedding would be sparsely attended because he had few relatives turned to social media to invite strangers to the celebration. Thousands of people from different parts of China responded to his invitation.

Xu Chenghong, who lives in Yiliang County, Zhaotong City, in China's Yunnan Province, got married on October 31. With only a small number of relatives and friends to invite, he decided to turn to internet users. As a result, thousands of people from across the country expressed their willingness to attend his wedding.

On October 25, Xu posted a video on the Douyin social media platform, inviting people to his wedding scheduled for October 31. Initially, he hoped that at least 10 to 20 people would come and fill the empty seats at the wedding banquet.

Xu lost his father when he was three years old. Two years later, his mother remarried, and he and his older brother were left in their grandmother's care. Their grandmother passed away two years later, and the brothers grew up with support from relatives. Xu eventually dropped out of school and worked in different places to earn a living.

He had saved more than 160,000 yuan to marry his girlfriend of three years. However, shortly before the wedding, he realised that the relatives from both families would not be able to fill even two or three tables.

His online invitation quickly went viral. By October 27, around 200 people had reportedly arrived at his home. By October 28, the number of visitors from different parts of China had reportedly reached 2,000–3,000.

The guests did not arrive empty-handed. They brought refrigerators, heaters, chairs, food supplies and even an entire pig. Some also brought professional cooks to help prepare the wedding banquet.

As the number of guests far exceeded expectations, the original wedding venue had to be changed. Local authorities helped organise the celebration at a public square in Luowan Miao settlement. Measures were also taken to manage traffic and ensure public and food safety.

On October 30, Chinese media outlet Kankan News reported that around 20,000 people had gathered at the event venue. On October 31, cooks from different parts of China helped prepare the wedding banquet. Chicken, beef and lamb brought by the guests were also used to prepare the wedding dishes.

What had started as an invitation to just a few dozen people turned into a massive celebration attended by thousands of strangers.