Yang Guomin of Changsha, capital of Hunan province, finds himself unable to wed because he lent his hukou, or household registration, to his younger brother a decade ago.

Yang's brother Yang Chunmin, borrowed Yang Guomin's document and passed himself off as his elder brother for the express purpose of marrying because at that time he was below the legal marriage age.

Yang Guomin's application to register his marriage was rejected by the local registration office because his hukou indicates that the 39-year-old is already "married".

Yang was told he would have to go through a "divorce" and several other complicated procedures before being permitted to register his marriage. Yang now has no idea how long it will take to finalize the necessary formalities and actually marry.

(Xiaoxiang Morning Post via China Daily August 14, 2008)