NBA star center Yao Ming married his long-term girlfriend Ye Li in their hometown of Shanghai on Monday.

 

A minimal wedding ceremony was held in the five-star Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai, with only some 70 family members and relatives in attendance, according to Zhang Chi, press representative for Team Yao, which manages Yao's career.

 

In contrast, around 100 security guards were hired to patrol the venue.

 

Basketball player superstar Yao Ming and his wife, Ye Li, light a candle during a very private wedding ceremony at the China Hall of the Pudong Shagri-La hotel yesterday. (Shanghai Daily)

 

NBA star Yao Ming and his fiance Ye Li pose in their official wedding portrait in Hangzhou, China in this photo released August 6, 2007. Yao married Ye at a jealously guarded private ceremony at a luxury hotel in Shanghai on Monday. (China Daily)

 

Reporters from home and abroad gather at the wedding ceremony of China's basketball sensation Yao Ming and his long-time girlfriend Ye Li at a hotel in Shanghai August 6, 2007. [sina]

 

Friends and relatives of China's basketball sensation Yao Ming and his long-time girlfriend Ye Li attend their wedding at a hotel in Shanghai August 6, 2007. [sina]

 

Attendees undergo tight secuity check during the wedding ceremony of China's basketball sensation Yao Ming and his long-time girlfriend Ye Li at a hotel in Shanghai August 6, 2007. [sina]

 

Photographers take pictures during the wedding ceremony of China's basketball sensation Yao Ming and his long-time girlfriend Ye Li at a hotel in Shanghai August 6, 2007. [sina]

 

Two visitors pose for a photo in front of the wax figure of Yao Ming in a tuxedo which made debut at Madam Tussauds' Wax Museum on Nanjing Road, east China's Shanghai Municipality on August 6, 2007. [newsphoto]

 

The wax figure of Yao Ming in a tuxedo stands at the entrance of Madam Tussauds' Wax Museum on Nanjing Road, east China's Shanghai Municipality on August 6, 2007. [newsphoto]

 

Journalists from home and abroad began staking out the hall early yesterday. They spotted Ye, 25, who plays for the women's national basketball team, arriving with her parents around 11 AM. Yao, 26, finally appeared at 5:45 PM wearing a white shirt and black trousers.

 

He gave journalists wedding candy, and a pink bear toy holding a large round chocolate, but declined all interviews.

 

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, according to witnesses. The ceremony, which lasted three hours, included an exchange of rings, an offering of tea and flowers to their parents to express gratitude, and sharing of a wedding cake, according to Zhang.

 

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, according to a wedding participant.

 

A Shangri-La staff member told Oriental Online earlier that Yao's guests would dine on "the best" dishes, but details of the wedding banquet menu were not disclosed. Last year, Yao joined a campaign to promote wildlife protection and pledged to give up eating shark's fin soup.

 

A white curtain in front of the wedding hall was decorated with a heart-shaped placard that had two "Y"s printed in the middle. Lilies were widely used for decoration, because the flower traditionally symbolizes "life-long happiness and perfect harmony" in China.

 

Yao's wedding plans were hotly discussed on the Internet. According to a vote organized by the Yahoo.com.cn, about 80 percent of the more than 900 voters agreed that Yao should have a low-key wedding rather than a luxurious one, as it was "more in accord with his personality."

 

Yao and Ye received their official marriage certificate in Shanghai's Xuhui District on Friday.

 

On July 31, the couple was spotted near Taihu Lake in Lin'an, east China's Zhejiang Province, taking wedding photos.

 

According to Yao' autobiography, Yao: A Life in Two Worlds, he met Ye in 1999, when he was playing for the Shanghai Sharks. Their romance went public when the two were seen walking hand-in-hand at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

 

Yao will fly to Beijing Tuesday to attend celebrations for the one-year countdown to the 2008 Olympics on August 8, Zhang said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai Daily August 7, 2007)