Houston Star Yao Ming Marries Longtime Girlfriend

BEIJING (AP) _ Yao Ming married his long-term girlfriend Monday at a swanky hotel in his hometown of Shanghai. <br/><br/>Yao, the Houston Rockets' star center, tied the knot with Ye Li, a 6-foot-2

Monday, August 6th 2007, 11:03 am

By: News On 6

BEIJING (AP) _ Yao Ming married his long-term girlfriend Monday at a swanky hotel in his hometown of Shanghai.

Yao, the Houston Rockets' star center, tied the knot with Ye Li, a 6-foot-2 player on the Chinese women's basketball team in a ceremony at the Shangri-La Hotel, sina.com reported.

The ceremony and banquet were attended by about 70 friends and relatives. Around 100 reporters staked out the riverside hotel's lobby, but Yao sent a message that he would give no interviews.

Along with celebratory candy, reporters received a compact disk of studio wedding photos, the Web site said.

The Titan sports newspaper reported Yao and his bride will go to Beijing on Tuesday to take part in festivities celebrating the one-year countdown to the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

While in Beijing, the couple will host a dinner for members of China's men's and women's basketball teams, the Oriental Morning Post reported.

The 7-foot-6 Yao and his bride received their official marriage certificate on Friday. Photographs showed the couple in tuxedo and off-the-shoulder gown having their wedding portraits taken at a scenic resort in eastern China last week.