A video that shows a young bridesmaid in China drinking in excess with the groomsmen and then lying on a hospital gurney has become viral on the web as it was reported that she died after consuming too much alcohol and choking on her own vomit.
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The young woman who appears in the video is egged on into binge-drinking by a group of men. It is evident that she’s completely inebriated, but continues drinking “baijiu,” a strong Chinese alcoholic beverage made from grain. She then appears unconscious and the laughing men take her away in a bellman's cart, until you finally see a paramedic trying to resuscitate her, which was unsuccessful.
According to The China Daily, the family of the bridesmaid and the newlyweds are negotiating the liability and related compensation issues.
A similar incident occurred earlier this year during the wedding of a famous Chinese actor in Bali, in which the groom tried to dunk a bridesmaid in a pool against her will. The moment was also filmed and viralized on social media.
After that incident the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper, People’s Daily, condemned the video calling it “bridesmaid bullying.”
Social media users have opened a debate for what is seen as tradition in China, in which bridesmaids have to literally humiliate themselves and get drunk on the bride’s behalf in order to entertain the groomsmen.
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The Financial Times published an article in April, in which its correspondent Patti Waldmeir described this tradition of teasing, flirting and sexually harassing the bridesmaids. She also reported that that most of the time bridesmaids are hired, in what she describes as “a surrogate drinker-cum-sexual harassment decoy for your wedding.”
In fact, some wedding plans include the rental of professional bridemaids, a practice that has become pretty common and popular in China as the brides reportedly wish to have perfection on such an important day.