Groom in China games gatecrashing custom by hiring locksmith to unlock bride's door

A video of a groom in China recently went viral, after he successfully evaded the traditional lan men (gatecrashing) wedding custom.

On the day of his wedding on Nov 9, the groom, surnamed Jiao from China's Hebei province, had come prepared with his locksmith friend to help him skip the door games and challenges, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. 

The wedding custom, meant to test the groom's commitment to the marriage, involves the bride's family and friends preventing the groom from seeing his bride.

They would typically demand the groom to complete some tasks or offer red packets in exchange for access to the bride.

And if the bridal party is not satisfied with the amount offered, they could continue to prevent the groom from seeing the bride, delaying the wedding as a result.

But Jiao managed to enter the bride's room within seconds, thanks to the help of his locksmith friend who swiftly paved the way by opening the doors to the home. 

"It took me only five seconds to enter the main door and three to unlock the bride's room door. I spent less than a minute going from the courtyard gate to the bride," Jiao reportedly shared on the Bailu Video platform.

Stating that he and his wife have been in a relationship for over six years, Jiao added that he knows his wife's home "like the back of my hand".

"I specifically called my locksmith friend to come, and when we arrived I didn't even knock on the door, I just had him unlock it," Jiao added.

A video of the event shared online captured the stunned faces of the bride and her family upon seeing Jiao effortlessly enter the room. 

“I only had to give a three-yuan (S$0.60) red envelope to enter the main door, and I entered the smaller door without giving any red envelopes,” Jiao proudly shared, after successfully bypassing the wedding custom. 

Many couples commented on Jiao's humourous video, sharing similar stories on how they'd circumvented the gatecrashing wedding tradition, reported SCMP. 

"I got married in a hotel. My husband met a cleaning lady on his way up and directly asked her for a room card," one said.

Another person chimed in: "I went to my mother-in-law's house in advance and 'stole' a set of all the keys. It took a long time before she realised the keys were missing."

ALSO READ: No money, no wife: China villagers block groom's car to demand wedding ang baos

ashwini.balan@asiaone.com