An efficient way to get marriage certificate -- booking on-line has been adopted by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs (BMBCA), greatly reducing the couples' waiting time for the registration.

Li Ziwei, chief of marriage agency of the BMBCA, said on Friday that since July 1, all 19 marriage registries have opened its on-line service for booking registration.

Till August, 200,000 new couples have registered in Beijing, or over 800 couples per day.

On August 8 alone, over 3,000 new couples got their marriage certificate at marriage registry offices in Beijing, a record high this year.

"I have been in the queue since yesterday afternoon and waited more than 17 hours with my girlfriend to become the first couple to register on a very propitious date," said Zhao Gang, a newlywed.

Queuing up the whole night to get marriage certificate can be very exhausting, yet it is not uncommon in Beijing.

Booking on-line provides an alternative that greatly saves time. Couples only need to wait no more than one hour to get their certificates.

Booking on-line can set the registration time to a precise period.

Marriage booking by text message via mobile phone is also under consideration.

(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2007)