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Married young: Meet China's teen brides

Updated 0225 GMT (1025 HKT) April 14, 2016

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Wen, 18, touches the pregnant belly of his 13-year-old wife Jie. They live together in Tangzibian village, Mengla county in Yunnan.
Photos: Married young: Meet China's teen brides
Wen, 18, touches the pregnant belly of his 13-year-old wife Jie. They live together in Tangzibian village, Mengla county in Yunnan.
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Jie (shadow) looks at her wedding photo at home. Jie quit school after she got married but says she feels bored staying home to farm, cook and embroider.
Photos: Married young: Meet China's teen brides
Jie (shadow) looks at her wedding photo at home. Jie quit school after she got married but says she feels bored staying home to farm, cook and embroider.
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Jie touches her 6-month pregnant belly at her home.
Photos: Married young: Meet China's teen brides
Jie touches her 6-month pregnant belly at her home.
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Cai, 16, holds her 2-month-old son at her village home in Mengla county. A year before this photo was taken she married and dropped out of school.
Photos: Married young: Meet China's teen brides
Cai, 16, holds her 2-month-old son at her village home in Mengla county. A year before this photo was taken she married and dropped out of school.
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Cai and her husband Ming use a neighbor's hand mill to grind corn. Ming says he misses his single life because he could hang out a lot with his friends before, but now his friends won't take him out because they are afraid that Cai will disapprove.
Photos: Married young: Meet China's teen brides
Cai and her husband Ming use a neighbor's hand mill to grind corn. Ming says he misses his single life because he could hang out a lot with his friends before, but now his friends won't take him out because they are afraid that Cai will disapprove.
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Ming and his wife, Cai, looks on as Ming's mother puts her grandson's mouth on her breast in an attempt to calm the child down. Ming's mother helps the young couple by taking care of the baby most of the time.
Photos: Married young: Meet China's teen brides
Ming and his wife, Cai, looks on as Ming's mother puts her grandson's mouth on her breast in an attempt to calm the child down. Ming's mother helps the young couple by taking care of the baby most of the time.
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Ming holds a breast pump as he watches his wife, Cai, and his mother care for his newborn son.
Photos: Married young: Meet China's teen brides
Ming holds a breast pump as he watches his wife, Cai, and his mother care for his newborn son.
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Many of the young couples meet at school. This love letter kept inside a physics textbook reads: "Hi, do you have a boyfriend? Can you accept me? I like you, please accept me. Reply."
Photos: Married young: Meet China's teen brides
Many of the young couples meet at school. This love letter kept inside a physics textbook reads: "Hi, do you have a boyfriend? Can you accept me? I like you, please accept me. Reply."
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Mei, 16, sits on bed with her 2-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son in Wanhe village, Mengla county, Yunnan province. She has been married for 2 years. She and her husband were classmates in primary school and they dropped out from school after getting married.
Photos: Married young: Meet China's teen brides
Mei, 16, sits on bed with her 2-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son in Wanhe village, Mengla county, Yunnan province. She has been married for 2 years. She and her husband were classmates in primary school and they dropped out from school after getting married.
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Xiao Rong, 16, (left) looks on as her 20-year-old husband Xiao Yong holds their 10-month-old baby, in Mengla county, Yunnan province.
Photos: Married young: Meet China's teen brides
Xiao Rong, 16, (left) looks on as her 20-year-old husband Xiao Yong holds their 10-month-old baby, in Mengla county, Yunnan province.
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Jian, 17, listens to his wife Mei's pregnant belly at their home, in Wenge village, Mengla county.
Photos: Married young: Meet China's teen brides
Jian, 17, listens to his wife Mei's pregnant belly at their home, in Wenge village, Mengla county.
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Photographer Muyi Xiao profiled a number of young Chinese newlyweds in a 2014 trip to Yunnan. The youngest was just 13. Teenage brides and grooms aren't uncommon in poor and rural parts of China -- as economic pressures, shifting social attitudes and changing population dynamics revive a practice that China's Communist leaders had hoped to stamp out. The tender and fascinating series of images helped earn Xiao a prestigious photography fellowship with the Magnum Foundation. These images first appeared on Chinese news portal Tencent.