Cultural life

Lucky '999' day sees tens of thousands Chinese wed

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-09 20:16

Couples take oath during a registration session at a marriage registry office in Shanghai September 9, 2009. "Nine", which has the same pronunciation as "long-lasting" in Mandarin, is considered as a lucky day to get married. [Agencies]

At least 314,224 couples tied the knot across the nation on 08/08/08, a one-day record for marriages since 1949, statistics with the Ministry of Civil Affairs show. In the Olympic host city of Beijing alone, 15,646 couples were married, 23 times the daily average. To put those numbers in perspective, there were 170,000 marriages in Beijing in all of 2006, a 25-year record.

The northwestern city of Urumqi that is still recovering from a riot in July also witnessed a surge of marriage registrations Wednesday.

At the marriage register office in the city's Saybag District, young couples have been standing in a long line of more than 50 meters since 9 am when the office opened.

"I specially asked for leave to come here for marriage registration," said 27-year-old woman Mihanrilieyi of the Uygur ethnic group, who works at the airport.

At another register office in Tianshan District, Yibadaiti Yishake, who works at a neighborhood community, also received her certificate.

"We have been waiting a long time today to get our marriage certificate. We will hold a wedding on October 4," she said.

"In the very near future, we will greet the 60th anniversary of the founding of New China, and I hope the life of residents in the city will soon return to normal," she said.

As the lucky days of 08/08/08 and 09/09/09 have passed, many young people began to eye 10/10/10, which means perfection in everything, and 11/11/11, which means wholeheartedness.

But sociologists have warned young people against blindly following the trend, as "rushed marriages" have led to "rushed divorces" in some cities.

A survey by the Marriage Registration Center at the Pudong New District in Shanghai showed that about 20 couples among the 917 total who obtained their marriage certificates at the center on 08/08/08 have broken up. In one case, a couple got to know each other on August 1 and rushed to marry on August 8 for the "Olympic marriage certificate," but they separated in October.

"An auspicious date cannot guarantee an eternal marriage," said Hu Guangwei, deputy director of the Social Studies Institute of the Sichuan Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.

"Lucky number day is mainly a psychological comfort, and couples had better not simply follow suit to get married in a rush without truly knowing each other," he said.