Tie the knot on Lucky Wedding Day

Tens of thousands of Chinese couples rushed to tie the knot across the nation Wednesday, or 09/09/09, hoping that the "triple 9 day" will bring them good luck and eternal love.

In Mandarin, the number "9" is pronounced the same as the word "jiu" that means "forever, perpetual or eternal."

Major cities have seen a surge of applications to wed Wednesday. In the southern metropolis of Guangzhou alone, more than 6,000 couples have applied to the city's 24 marriage register offices, and the figure was about 3,000 for the eastern city of Nanjing, according to local civil affairs authorities.

In some cities, many couples and their families had to queue up outside the marriage register offices from Tuesday afternoon on. Civil affairs authorities in different cities had to increase staff, work longer hours and open more offices to cope.

China saw a peak of marriage registrations and weddings on August 8, 2008 when the 29th Olympic Games opened in Beijing. Tens of thousands of couples across the nation chose the "triple 8 day," or 08/08/08, to tie the knot, as "8" is also an auspicious number among Chinese that is believed to be able to bring wealth, fortune and luck for people.

Sourc: China Daily

Related link:

Chinese Wedding Evolution in the past 60 Years Part I

Posted at 04:00PM Sep 10, 2009 by admin in China Travel  |  Comments[0]