Some 3,390 couples in Beijing formally registered for their
happy marriage on Wednesday, August 8, a day that is usually
considered highly auspicious.
Countless couples lined up at various marriage registration
offices ahead of time on Tuesday, Beijing Morning Post
reported.
Zhao Gang and Cao Man, a young couple from Beijing's eastern
Chaoyang District were the first to have their registration
finalized. They began waiting outside the office at 3 PM on
Tuesday.
Besides on-the-spot queuing, many young couples chose to
virtually reserve via the city's online marriage services. Chen Ru,
a chief official from the Marriage Registry office in Haidian
District, said many couples booked for their big day via their
online booking system. And according to Chen, the registration
service was fully to capacity on the lucky day.
August 8 also marks the one-year countdown to the Beijing
Olympic Games, and of course the beginning of Autumn according to
the Chinese lunar calendar. The ancient calendar, made up of 24
solar terms, represents different climate periods that govern
agricultural arrangements and is still functioning today.
The day is viewed an auspicious day because August 8 has two
eights in it and in Chinese culture, the pronunciation of eight in
Cantonese sounds similar to "fa", which implies "big fortune", and
thus it is considered a lucky number.
Meanwhile, according to the traditional lunar calendar, the day
was in fact June 26, a number containing two sixes, also a pair of
lucky numbers in Chinese culture, meaning everything will be smooth
and successful.
(CRIENGLISH.com August 9, 2007)