BEIJING - NBA star center Yao Ming is getting married to his long-term girlfriend Ye Li in their hometown Shanghai on Monday.
China's NBA star center Yao Ming (L) and sweetheart Ye Li, also a basketball player, shoot pre-wedding photos in Tai Huyuan scenic resort in Lin'an of east China's Zhejiang Province July 30, 2007. Netizens of a local online forum said the couple shot the photos there and the local residents of the scenic resort later confirmed it. [sohu] |
A wedding ceremony will be held in the five-star Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai, and only family members and relatives will be present, no teammates, coaches or basketball officials, local media reported.
Yao and his agent have both turned off their mobile phones, but Xinhua's Shanghai correspondent was told there would be an official announcement about the wedding later Monday night.
About 100 security guards will work for the nuptial in which only 10 dinner tables will be arranged with each costing 12,300 yuan (1,618 U.S dollars), media reports said.
Yao, the 27-year-old, 2.26-meter-tall Houston Rockets star, and his bride Ye, a 26-year-old, 1.9-meter-tall player on China's national women's basketball team, received their official marriage certificate in Shanghai's Xuhui District on Friday.