August 8, 2008 is more than just a date.
For one, it marks the day of the opening ceremony for the highly
anticipated Beijing Olympics.
It is also considered a lucky day for marriage. For Chinese
couples looking to tie the knot, the combination of eights adds up
to a potentially successful union.
"The Olympic year is meaningful to all of us," He Lina,
secretary-general of the Shanghai Wedding Celebration Association,
said.
"According to our Chinese tradition, eight is an auspicious
number, good for weddings."
That specific date aside, 2008 itself is considered by Chinese a
good year to get hitched.
In Shanghai alone, nearly 120,000 young couples have so for
decided to marry next year, some 30 percent more than this year, He
said.
Shanghai's big hotels are also braced for an expected lift in
business.
"Considered the 'metal year' in the Chinese lunar calendar, next
year is good for weddings. A lot of couples want to hold ceremonies
in our hotel," Angel Mao, a representative for Shangri-la,
Shanghai, said.
Huang Meizi, a manager of the Guangzhou-based Dongfang Hotel in
southern China, said the hotel had so far received three wedding
banquet bookings for August 8.
Liu Shiyan, from the Liwan district marriage registration center
in Guangzhou said two other dates were also popular among
couples.
"Besides August 8, other days such as November 11 and January 11
are regarded good ones for marriage.
"We have received many bookings since the online booking service
opened last month," Liu said.
But not everyone believes in number superstition, or the claim
the Olympics has something to do with the expected marriage
surge.
"A marriage surge stimulated by the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
sounds groundless," Shi Kangning, secretary-general of the
Committee of Matchmaking Service Industries under the China
Association of Social Workers, told China Daily.
"The wedding surge of 2008 is a chain reaction of the birth
surge in the 1980s, because next year, about 280 million youngsters
in China will have reached the age of getting married."
Shi said the wedding ceremony market would "not be too hot" from
June to October as it would be hard for many couples to secure
bookings in hotels with a rating of three stars and over.
The hotels will be full because of the Olympic Games, Shi
said.
"Matchmaking companies are not allowed to organize collective
weddings in the name of Olympic Games," Shi said.
The manager of the Beijing Matchmaking website Zhang Keqin told
China Daily the cost of wedding ceremonies will increase next year,
but declined to release his 2008 cost list.
Zhang said prices will be negotiated with clients.
(China Daily November 27, 2007)