On August 6, one of China's most eligible bachelors, basketball star Yao Ming, married his long-term girlfriend, Ye Li, at a closely guarded private ceremony at a luxury hotel in their hometown Shanghai. They received their marriage certificate in the Civil Affairs Bureau at Shanghai's Xuhui District August 3.
The 2.26-meter Houston Rockets center and his 1.90-meter bride celebrated their wedding at a Chinese-style ceremony at the Pudong Shangri-La hotel (see the picture below taken by my honey in 2005, click to enlarge it) in the city's financial district.
The three-hour ceremony was attended by more than 70 family members and only invited home and abroad journalist allowed to take pictures. In the beginning of this month, Yao and Ye were spotted secretly taking wedding photos at scenic at Tai Huyuan Resort in Lin An city of Zhejiang Province.
The wedding ceremony took place in the Shangri-La's China Hall from 6pm to 8:50pm.
At the ceremony, Yao and his bride were accompanied on the red carpet by groomsman Shen Wei, a former teammate of Yao, and a bridesmaid who is a cousin of Ye. The newlyweds wore wedding rings each giving to the other and thanked their parents for giving them life.
The wedding banquet featured nine tables holding eight guests each. The food on each table was valued at about 12,300 yuan (US$1,580). The dishes were all Chinese cuisine cooked by the hotel's chefs. It was very sure that the most delicious shark fin soup (on Chinese cuisine menu) wouldn't be on the table, since Yao joined a campaign to promote wildlife protection and pledged to give up eating it in 2006.
Congrats to Yao, you together with our Shanghai's Liu Xiang will be my eternal idols!
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