One-day marriages are popular in rural China

Grooms in rural Hebei province, China, pay to rent brides to be considered married men, eligible to be buried in their ancestors' graves.

The July 7 wedding in Langfang, Hebei province, looked like any other in northern China, with the MC speaking in front of dozens of relatives and friends of the bride and groom.

"Let's congratulate the bride and groom, who are celebrating their wedding today. May they live happily ever after," said the MC.

One-day marriages are popular in rural China — Wedding on July 7 in Langfang city, Hebei province. Video : *Sohu*

What is special is that this marriage only lasted for one day. This type of marriage is popular among single men in many rural areas of Hebei, because they want to be buried in their ancestors' graves after they die.

In some regions, men who are too poor to marry are not allowed to be buried in the family grave or enter the family shrine. This is believed to prevent them from ruining the family’s feng shui and causing their children to also be unmarried.

Many places believe that men who are allowed to be buried in their ancestors' graves will be cared for by their descendants and will receive votive money and objects that they burn for their loved ones in the afterlife .

One-day marriages became popular in the area five or six years ago. A matchmaker surnamed Wu, who runs a one-day marriage service, said she has several professional brides available. The bride rental fee is 3,600 yuan ($500) and the brokerage fee is 1,000 yuan.

The bride will attend the wedding and go to the groom’s ancestral grave so he can tell his ancestors that they are married. Ms. Wu said that most brides work as nannies or masseuses and are not local, because many worry that working in this profession will affect them if their families find out.

The fake bride at the July 7 wedding, Tian, said she needed money to support her husband and children. She opened a massage parlor and earned a few thousand yuan a month. Her family did not know that Tian was doing this side job. She hid her identity by wearing heavy makeup and a wig at the wedding. Tian, 48, had been working for Ms. Wu since 2021 and was the youngest bride in the group.

The groom at the July 7 wedding, surnamed Tong, called the one-day marriage a "deal" because he did not need to pay the bride price of up to $14,000.

Ms Wu said she was helping many people in this way because they were “poor people”. “Nothing in this life is real except money,” she said.

Chinese social media users have compared one-day marriages to the boyfriend-and-girlfriend rental services popular among young people looking to outsmart their parents. Some have been shocked by the grooms’ obsession with visiting their ancestors’ graves.

"I don't understand why there is a tradition that single people are not buried in the ancestral grave. Besides, why care so much about it when you're already dead?" one person commented.

"I have witnessed many cases of cheating living people, but never anyone cheating ghosts," another person expressed.

"They say marriage is the grave of love. It's true," another person quipped.

Hong Hanh (According to SCMP )

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