I'm off to China to be with my bride: The food's fresher, living is cheaper... and bins are emptied TWICE a day
In just 18 months of marriage, Ken Miller and his bride have found the road to wedded bliss rather rocky.
There is their 25-year-age gap, the fact that they live 6,000 miles apart - not to mention the small matter of neither speaking the other's language.
But when 70-year-old Mr Miller managed to secure his 46-year-old Chinese wife Lei Genxiou a place in his sheltered accommodation near Swansea, it seemed they would at last be together - until she was refused a visa.
'Every old man's dream': Ken Miller, 70, says he's off to China to be with his wife and won't be coming back
So now he is turning his back on Britain and moving to China to be with her ... and he can't wait to get there.
Mr Miller will set up home in the south-western Chinese city of Nanning, where the couple married in 2006 after meeting on the Internet.
"The quality of life over there is much better than it is here," he said. "The food is fresher, the lifestyle is cheaper, and you get your rubbish emptied twice a day.
"The British have an old-fashioned view of China. It is a great place to live. I know of people who have come from Nanning to live here, and hated it.
"In China, there are 14-lane roads in the middle of town lined with shrubs and trees which are never damaged by vandals.
"They've got shops that women over here would die for. I am very excited about going to live with Lei, and she is too. I have just been talking to her on the computer. We have never been closer."
He has visited his bride three times since they married and says he will have no regrets about leaving Britain.
Recalling a recent visit to Nanning, he added: "We went out to a restaurant which served 30 different dishes of food. The bill for seven of us was £14, and we drank 35 pints of beer.
"So they haven't got an NHS, but on practically every street there are doctors and dentists which are open 14 hours a day, seven days a week. And yes, they eat dogs there - but we eat deer and rabbits."
Mr Miller, who has been married twice before, said they can live well off his pensions. "And my wife has a job as a buyer for a restaurant so I will definitely be well-fed."
He dismisses anyone who might be tempted to question the basis of their relationship.
"People have said to me that she's just after a visa. I say, 'Yes, of course she wants a visa. Of course she wants a better life. And who can blame her?' But it works both ways - I get companionship, so I think it's a fair gamble.
"And now she has been refused a visa and we are still together, so what does that prove? This is my life and after all my years, I've earned the right to do as I please."
Asked if he is nervous about moving to a country without understanding the language, he said: "Lei's not taking English lessons, and I can't say five words in Mandarin. But when we're together, we communicate a lot through touch.
"I've been around long enough to know I'll get by. You pick up the language more easily if you live in a country, and I might take some lessons."
Their romance began after Mr Miller saw an advert in a local newspaper for a dating agency which specialised in matching British lonely hearts with Chinese brides.
After paying £300, he was put in touch with Lei and they began communicating via the internet.
He described the lifestyle he is seeking abroad with a younger woman as "every old man's dream".
Describing their mutual attraction, Mr Miller added: "She is absolutely gorgeous. She says I'm handsome. But whether or not she loves me, I don't know. What is the definition of love anyway? I've only got a few years left, so I'm going to China and I'm not coming back."
Source: Daily Mail UK, Mar. 21, 2008 
I'm off to China to be with my bride: The food's fresher, living is cheaper... and bins are emptied 
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