A low-key but elegant wedding ceremony at Shanghai's five-star Shangri-La Hotel on August 6 looked ordinary enough until the bride and groom walked down the aisle. He is 7-foot-6-inch and she is 6-foot-3-inch. Family members and relatives craned their necks skywards to smile at the happy couple. Legendary Chinese basketball player Yao Ming and his long-time girlfriend Ye Li were finally tying the knot.

No teammates, no coaches, no screaming fans. Yao and Ye enjoyed their hometown family reunion and traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, exchanging rings, offering tea and flowers to their parents and sharing their wedding cake. The only exception to the "normal" setting was the phalanx of bodyguards that almost outnumbered the wedding guests.

The 27-year-old Houston Rockets' star center met his 26-year-old sweetheart in 1999, when he was playing for the Shanghai Sharks, and Ye was playing for the club's women's team. Later, she was promoted to the national team, but has been plagued with injuries in recent years.

Ye is now an English-language student at the University of Houston.

Yao and Ye kept their love life closely guarded from the public, with the first rumors circulating when they were spotted together at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Almost three years later, they received their marriage certificate at the Bureau of Civil Affairs of Xuhui District, Shanghai, bringing their marathon eight-year long courtship to a slam-dunk climax.