A marriage made in heaven?

It could be China's weirdest wedding of the year. A businessman called Chen Zhifeng, from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, has proposed "marrying" one of his Ferghana mares to a Ferghana stud given to President Xi Jinping by the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov last year.

Although Ferghana were first brought to China more than 2,000 years ago, Turkmenistan has twice presented the horses as official gifts to China since the two countries established ties in 1992.

When he accepted the stallion, Xi described the horse as a symbol of enduring friendship, while Berdymukhamedov said Ferghana have a unique place in Turkmen history and hoped they would boost understanding between the two countries.