Yao Zhen went the extra mile, literally, to propose to his girlfriend Zhuang Jiewei.Photo provided to Shanghai Star

Spreading the love

Urban jungle to vertical forest

Yao Zhen wanted his proposal to his girlfriend to be extra special, so he hit upon the idea of mapping out his desire to marry her on the streets of Shanghai. Zhou Wenting reports.

Yao Zhen first proposed to his girlfriend with a display of tea lights forming the words "Marry Me".

The proposal was a success, she said yes - but Yao was not quite satisfied.

He decided to re-do the proposal, this time by mapping out the words "Marry Me Kara" on Shanghai's city streets, riding the route on bike with the intention of filming himself and playing the video at their wedding reception. Kara is the English name of his wife Zhuang Jiewei.

He designed the route using a cell phone application with GPS.

"I was determined to do it because I promised my wife that I would give her a special and surprising proposal and I don't want to leave her with any regrets," says Yao, a Shanghai native. "I came up with the idea when she urged me to lose weight by jogging to look good on our wedding day."

However, Yao soon discovered that it was not easy to find a route in the shape of the words he wanted. "I intended to do it in Pudong New Area, but the tall buildings blocked the GPS signal I needed to draw the route," he says.

After several attempts, he found a route in downtown Huangpu district. "There are narrow alleys in the old area, which gives me plenty of options to 'write the words' according to the shape of the streets. And I found Zhonghuang Road has a perfect curve that can form the heart around the words," Yao says.