Vietnamese brides enjoy life in rural China

Riding an electric motorbike with her one-year-old son, Tuan Thi Hong Thai doesn't look much different from an ordinary rural woman in China.

The 26-year-old Vietnamese woman followed her husband back to his hometown, Linqi Township in central China's Henan Province, in November 2011.

Having lived in the rural township for almost two years, she now speaks the local dialect fluently and always greets her neighbors with a bright smile.

Tuan told Xinhua that she met her husband, Zhang Weijiang, in 2010 in the Vietnamese city of Ninh Binh, where Zhang worked as a construction worker.

"A mutual friend of ours introduced me to him. He has many good qualities and always takes good care of me," Tuan said.

After dating for a while, Tuan took Zhang to meet her family. However, their relationship faced strong opposition from her parents.

Her mother didn't want her to marry a Chinese man because of the language and cultural differences, and she would have to live far away from home.

However, Tuan was determined to spend the rest of her life with Zhang and finally won the support of her family.

After a simple wedding in Vietnam, the couple came back to Linqi, and soon after their son was born.

To support the family, her husband left home in May to work on a year-long construction project in Indonesia.

Tuan said she misses him a lot, but has never regretted following him to China.

According to the township government, 23 Vietnamese women have married local farmers since 2008.

Like Tuan, they all met their husbands in their home country before deciding to settle down in China.

Farmers in Linqi are known for their excellent construction skills, so they often go to work in Southeast Asian countries during slow farming seasons, as construction work typically pays better than farming.

Liu Weihua, 35, got married last year to Ho Thi Huan. He said most farmers just go to Vietnam hoping to make more money, and don't expect to find a wife.

"We went there for work, not for women," Liu said. "But things just happened naturally."