Marriages bridge Chinese-Kenyan cultural differences

Three years ago, Ya Xing married Ruth Njeri before his friends and family in China. His peers considered him brave for starting a new life in Kenya but the ebullient entrepreneur, once a TV host, did not think so.

"I am in love," he said. "It might be complicated to marry into a new culture, but I think people think too much about it."

Ya, 40, was born in Luoyang, an industrial city in central China's Henan province. He met Njeri, 34, from Nairobi, Kenya, in a restaurant in Shanghai while she was studying under a Chinese government scholarship. At that time, they were both participating in the World Expo before meeting again in Beijing during the 60th anniversary of foreign students in China.