10,000 strangers flock to Chinese wedding after groom makes online plea for people to attend

Published: 06:22 EDT, 3 November 2026 | Updated: 06:23 EDT, 3 November 2026 Thousands of strangers flocked to a wedding in China after the groom made a plea online for people to attend.Xu Chenghong, 24, feared guests would be put off from attending his wedding to bride Luo Chui due to it being held in a rural village in the province of Yunnan.The groom, whose only close relative was his brother, turned to Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, to extend an invitation to anyone online to come and 'fill up the tables'. The plea went viral. Despite his humble online following under name Xiao Xiao Xu, more than 10,000 well-wishers arrived in the mountainous village in southwestern China. 'Guests' turned up mere days after Mr Chenghong's request was posted the Sunday before the wedding - driving, flying or taking the train. The group also did not turn up empty handed, adapting the groom's request to not bring 'red envelopes'- cash gifts traditional at Chinese weddings. Freezers, electric heaters and food for the wedding banquet were instead brought as gifts for the happy couple, who wedded last Saturday. Meanwhile, chefs helped with the feast. The bride had her makeup done for free. Some 9,999 roses were brought by an online influencer who drove from his village. Xu Chenghong pictured with his now-wife Luo Chui at their wedding last Saturday in China's Yunnan province More than 10,000 well-wishers arrived in the mountainous village in southwestern China on to celebrate the wedding of Mr Chenghong and his bride Ms Chui Chefs helped with the wedding feast, which included gifts of food from some the thousands of attendeesThis came after Mr Chenghong had spent most of his life supporting himself after his father died, placing him and his brother into the care of their grandmother. She then passed while they were still young.He then built up a CV that included casual jobs on building sites and factories, alongside running his own food stall. The groom was able to save a significant 128,000 yuan (£14,300) for the necessary dowry required in modern China. But local media reported Mr Chenghong's father-in-law had returned the dowry, citing the groom's need for it over the bride's family.The village upheld its province's characteristic of hospitality and made the event even bigger by moving celebrations to the town's square. The wedding 'transcended the operating logic of the close-knit, kinship-based society of rural China', one Shanghai newspaper wrote. The local news broadcaster Yunnan Television described it as proof 'strangers could become family, and that the internet can convey the most personal emotions'.The event, however, attracted several Xiao Xiao Xu accounts to pop up online with a perceived intention of profiting off the trend. Ms Chui had her makeup done for free by a stranger who attended her wedding last weekendIt comes as marriage registrations in China dropped to a decade low.China recorded 1.697 million marriage ⁠registrations in the quarter, the ​Ministry of Civil Affairs said in May. The ​figures were the latest sign of China's deepening demographic challenges.China's population fell for a fourth ​consecutive year in 2025, while its ​birth rate dropped to a record low, prompting ‌warnings ⁠from demographers of further decline.Couples in China have traditionally had children after marriage, reflecting both cultural norms and administrative ​rules that ​have ⁠in some cases linked birth registration or access to benefits ​to a marriage certificate.Authorities have ​rolled ⁠out a range of measures to encourage marriage and childbearing, including family subsidies, ⁠childcare ​support and efforts to ​reduce childbirth-related medical costs.