Giant wedding must-see event of summer
It's the biggest wedding of the summer - 2.26-meter-tall Yao Ming and his 1.90m fiance Ye Li.
The pair is planning on wedding soon, and China's Internet hordes are already planning their future.
"Yao Ming and Ye Li are both national basketball heroes. Their wedding ceremony is a red-letter day for all of us. Please show it live and it will allow all of us to share the exciting moment and inspire more young basketball players," said one netizen on Sina.com.
Since the wedding was revealed by Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey last week, rumors have spread that CCTV will broadcast the wedding ceremony during the Mid-Autumn Day Gala and another national sport icon, 110m hurdles world record holder Liu Xiang, will act as master-of-ceremony.
Although both Liu and the Gala director have denied the speculation, talk is showing no signs of slowing down ahead of the planned August ceremony.
According to Titan Sports, Yao, who has kept his love life away from the media, will marry Ye in a private family ceremony in Shanghai, where they were born and began dating.
"This is a match based on pure love," the paper observed.
The two were seen walking hand-in-hand at the closing ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympics, when their courtship first became public.
"I suggest all the guests who are admitted to join the ceremony should stand at least 2 meters. I am sure it will be a new Guinness World Record," wrote one netizen on the BBS of Tsinghua University.
Another suggested Yao and Yi should play basketball during the ceremony.
"Let's see if Ye is able to beat Yao on the court. Of course, anyone who wants to attend the ceremony and witness the giant hoop competition will have to pay for admission."
But some are already thinking past the wedding, and the impact the couple's children could have on the national team.
"I hope they will give birth to at least five children. Then we will have a strong basketball team," a fan from Beijing commented on Sohu.com.
(China Daily 06/29/2007 page22)
