China's disproportionate ratio of men to women has prompted many men to seek wives outside the country. Some get lucky, yet language barriers, cultural differences and many other challenges make their married lives tough in the early going. CGTN's Li Jianhua shows us.

A traditional marriage in northern rural China. The difference is it's a nuptial between a Chinese man and a Lao woman last summer.

Married now for over six months, the language barrier is one of many "getting used-to's" that the couple faces in daily life.

YUAN LONG HANDAN RESIDENT "She is still not used to the food here. She cooks Lao food and I usually have Chinese. There's a language barrier between us, and we use some translation apps on my phone to communicate."

Coming from warm and balmy southeast Asia, it's rare for her to see snow. Living in a foreign country, she's trying to find her way here.

XIE XONG LONG'S WIFE "It's so cold here for me. But, I don't have to work as much as I did in Laos. China's economy is strong and my husband makes good money."

The young couple's married lives are not as easy as expected. So, why did they choose to tie the knot in the first place?

YUAN HONGJIE LONG'S FATHER "The money given to the bride's family is too high here. It is usually around 200 thousand yuan. Plus, the bridegroom's family has to prepare a house and a car. Even though you have a house and a car, it's still difficult to find wives."

The latest official figures show that men outnumber women on the Chinese mainland by over 30 million.

YUAN HONGJIE LONG'S FATHER "That's why we went to Laos to find my son a wife. More families here are like us. There were at least ten Laotian women happy to be wives in this area."

Xie Xong tells a similar story. Her little sister married into a village not far from hers. The two sisters both came here on tourist visas.  I asked her husband if he is worried about permanent residency issues?

QI HAO HANDAN RESIDENT "I don't know what to do about it. This is the countryside, and it may not be as strict as the cities."

"What if she is deported someday because of this?"

"Deported … We have to take it one step at a time."

The three Laotian girls all live around this village. The go-between for them didn't want to go on camera despite our request. But he promises to give them official marriage certificates by the end of this year. 

LI JIANHUA HANDAN, HEBEI PROVINCE "The male to female ratio is rather disproportionate in China due to the nation's traditional cultural preference for boys. In the meantime, the high cost of a marriage has left many - especially those in the countryside with financial difficulties - single. It has become a trend for these bachelors to find their life partners from Southeast Asian countries, such as Laos and Vietnam. This helps reduce the number of bachelors in rural China. But how to safeguard the legal rights of these foreign wives remains a challenge. LJH, CGTN, HANDAN, HEBEI PROVINCE."