Auspicious date leads to a rush to get married

Hundreds of Beijing couples were celebrating their weddings on Sunday with lavish parties because Aug 8 is an auspicious date but they had to be creative in registering their unions as wedding registration offices were closed.

Many couples scrambled to register their weddings on Aug 6, an auspicious date that served as an alternative.

Wedding registration offices in Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chaoyang, Haidian and Daxing districts each accepted more than 100 couples on Saturday.

A spokeswoman surnamed Zhou at Xicheng wedding registry told METRO the number of people applying for wedding certificates on Aug 6 was almost three times that of a normal day.

"August has always been a favorable month for couples to get married and Aug 8 is invariably a good choice because eight is a lucky number in Chinese culture," Zhou said.

But, because Aug 8 fell on a Sunday this year, many people decided to marry on Aug 6, which is June 26 on the lunar calendar. The two sixes of that date also ensures the day can be called auspicious.

"The reason why people don't choose Aug 7 is Chinese people prefer even numbers to odd ones," Zhou added.

Sun Ming, 29, an IT worker, said: "Aug 8, of course, sounds a better date to me, but my parents checked the almanac and said Aug 6 is also good."

A woman surnamed Yang said she would wait for another lucky day to marry.

"I'm not in haste. I'd rather wait for one more week until Qixi," she said.

Chinese Valentine's Day, or Qixi, will fall on Aug 16 this year and registration officials in many districts of Beijing predict the number of wedding registrations will break records that day.

Spokespeople at some offices said they may open earlier and close one hour later on Aug 16 in a bid to cope with demand.

Historically speaking, the number of wedding registrations in Beijing peaked at 15,646 on Aug 8, 2008, the opening day of Beijing Olympic Games.

Then, they broke new ground with 19,000 marriages on Sept 9, 2009, the year that marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of People's Republic of China.

Given this logic, Oct 10, 2010 is widely expected to be another popular day for wedding registrations because having two 10s together means shiquanshimei, a Chinese phrase meaning everything is perfect.

Unluckily, that day will fall on a Sunday again.

People may have to bring forward their registration date then as well but registration officers in Dongcheng and Xicheng districts said they have not yet been told whether or not their offices will open that day.

So far, there have been more than 100 reservations made at Haidian office and almost 200 at Fengtai office for Oct 10.

China Daily

(China Daily 08/09/2010 page25)