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SHANGHAI : Wednesdays are not usually popular days to get married in China, but September 9 is special because it is the ninth day of the ninth month of the year 2009.
So it is no surprise that a record number of couples are tying the knot throughout China on Wednesday.
The number "9" in Chinese is pronounced "jiu", which sounds the same as the word "forever", and that is why hordes of couples wanted to get their marriage certificate on Wednesday, September 9.
One person said: "I believe that getting married is a lifetime commitment, and so I would like it to be an auspicious date like today 09/09/09. It means forever and we hope we can be together as long as we live."
Another commented: "A day like 09/09/09 only happens in a hundred years, and we feel it is very meaningful to pick such a special day. Although we have been preparing this wedding for a long time, we still wanted to pick today as our formal registration date to get married."
And they are definitely not alone. Online marriage appointments in downtown Shanghai have already been booked out since last month.
Zhou Jixang, district marriage director, Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, said: "There are 500 couples who are scheduled to get registered here today. We are also expecting more walk-ins to show up today. This figure today has easily surpassed last year's August 8 Beijing Olympic games marriage registration by 300 couples."
Authorities have not set any quotas on the number of applicants registering on Wednesday. They will stay open for as long as it takes to clear the applications.
At Changning district, couples opted to register at Hongqiao Central Garden. And some couples started queuing there as early as 6.30am, hoping to get registered at 9am.
One couple said: "(We came at) about 6am. Yes, we planned to (get registered at 9.09am), but there are just too many people and it was about 10am when we got our registration certificate."
For 28-old-year-old Shi Ying and 29-year-old Lu Yi Jing, this year's dates will be extra special.
They said: "We definitely want our marriage to last forever, so I want something lucky like 09/09/09. Furthermore, we are holding our banquet next month. So our registration is 0909 and our ceremony is 1010."
Marriage bureaus usually receive about 300 to 400 registrations but on special days, they see that number jumping as much as 20-fold. Last year, on August 8, Shanghai saw 7,190 couples tie the knot. And so far 7,728 couples have registered - easily surpassing last year's number and the highest daily registration since 1949. - CNA/ms
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