Photo provided by Ren Lili (alias) to Beijing Times shows Xie Feng (alias), the man who was beaten at Vietnam border. [Photo: Beijing Times]

A Chinese man's pre-wedding photo-shoot turned into a nightmare after as he was beaten by Vietnamese frontier officers, the Beijing Times is reporting.

The paper says 28-year-old Xie Feng (alias) was left with soft tissue damage and four broken ribs on February 7, as he was returning to China through the port in Mong Cai with his mother and fiancee, after a trip to Vietnam to shoot wedding photos.

Ren Lili (alias), Xie Feng's fiancee, told Beijing Times that the three of them handed over 330 yuan (about 48 USD) in total to frontier inspection staff and a security guard, as they entered Mong Cai port on January 25.

　　Photo provided by Ren Lili (alias) to Beijing Times shows Xie Feng (alias), the man who was beaten at Vietnam border. [Photo: Beijing Times]

However, on their return trip, Xie had been told by a friend that he didn't need to hand over any money.

Then he turned around and started to head out of the customs hall. Ren said he was about to make a phone call to his friend as he wanted to check if that was true.

"Then a woman who was asking for money started shouting something in Vietnamese, and seven or eight frontier officers rushed over to beat him," Ren said.

Xie was handcuffed and brought back to the customs hall by force. The officers bound his feet and took him to an office on the second floor where they continued to beat him, Ren said.

Their passports were also taken away, she said.

　　Photo provided by Ren Lili (alias) to Beijing Times shows the woman who asked for money from the three Chinese at Vietnam border. [Photo: Beijing Times]

Eventually, they put an exit stamp on Ren's passport and allowed her to leave.

Once she arrived on the Chinese side she turned to the Chinese frontier officers for help.

Xie and his mother were then allowed to leave with the help of Chinese frontier officers, and Xie was rushed to hospital.

Ren also made contact with the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam and called the police during the incident.

　　Photo provided by Ren Lili (alias) to Beijing Times shows a group of Vietnamese frontier officers. [Photo: Beijing Times]

The China Embassy in Vietnam told Beijing Times that they had received a call about the incident at the time it happened, and lodged solemn representations with Vietnam's Bureau of Consular Affairs, Beijing Times reported.

The Embassy said the incident was "shocking" and they were "indignant"; they said they had asked the Vietnam side to investigate the case thoroughly and severely punish those who were involved in the attack in accordance with the law, according to Beijing Times.