Village ties link modern couple at their wedding

Wang Zhequn and Chen Xia had a traditional Chongming wedding. Photos provided to Shanghai Star

Wang Zhequn was fascinated by Chen Xia from the moment he saw her. Their recent wedding took in the elaborate traditions of the bride's home — Chongming Island. Zhou Wenting reports.

Chen Xia has perfected the pout. As a child she would pout when requesting candy from her grandfather. Today, Chen pouts whenever she's happy, unhappy, looks at herself in the mirror or takes a selfie.

Three years ago, on her first day of work, her trademark facial expression was noticed by one of her male colleagues, Wang Zhequn.

"I thought she must have a thorny headache, but actually she was shopping online before officially getting to work and was hesitating about which dress to buy. She's lovely," says Wang, 31, who was born and raised in the city of Shanghai.

After several months working together they got to know each other well. Wang found Chen fascinating. They got together in 2012.

That year, he surprised Chen on Children's Day. He filled his car trunk with colorful balloons and a doll and when Chen, who knew nothing about this, opened the trunk for a bottle of water, the balloons flew up in the air.