To avoid the frequent questioning of nosey relatives about getting married, many single Chinese resort to hiring the services of a girlfriend or boyfriend for hire during holidays such as Chinese New Year. Now, because of the risks bridesmaids face from wedding pranks, Chinese women are hiring as well bridesmaids for rent to spare their real women friends the danger they face.
Wedding pranks-gone wrong, such as a 28-year-old bridesmaid in Wenchang, Hainan Province, forced to drink so much alcohol in September on behalf of the bride and dying are among the reasons behind the growing popularity of bridesmaids for rent, according to Quartz.
In the video clip which circulated in Chinese social media, the woman in black is pressured into drinking baiju at the wedding ceremony until she faints and is rushed to the hospital, but doctors failed to revive her, Chinadaily reported.
There was also the case of Chinese actress Liu Yan who was grabbed by several men in late March and thrown into the swimming pool during the wedding of Chinese actor Bao Beier in Bali, Indonesia, which sparked an online debate on the necessity of such nuptial traditions.
The bedroom stunts, “infused with sexual and reproductive innuendoes,” and has become a tradition in contemporary China, has its root in the country’s history when bridesmaids dressed like the bride to reduce the risk of the real woman about to be married from being named and burgled by rival clans and hoodlums.
Although the bridesmaid’s role took a more symbolic turn in modern times, until now she is still expect to parry drinking requests Chinese rice wine on behalf of the bride some of whom are poisoned by excessive alcohol intake or die, such as what happened in Hainan a month ago. These practices, though, has been observed to prevail in rural areas and provinces such as Hainan and Shandong.