Thousands married on 2013.1.4, a date homophonic as “love you for a lifetime” in Chinese
Jacky Huang | January 11th, 2013
Jan 4th, the couples waiting in the Beijing Haidian District marriage registration office
The first working day of 2013, the first summit of registration for marriage has come to Beijing. Journalist learned from Civil Affair Department in Beijing yesterday, that more than 7,000 couples have made appointments to register for marriage on Jan 4th, 2013. And the actual registration number will very likely to be over 10,000.
Jan 4th, the couples gets their marriage certificate
Jan 4th, Qingyuan Qingcheng District, people waiting outside marriage registration office
“If volcano did not erupt, the earth did not crack, buildings did not fall down, homes were not flooded, you are still there and he is still in love with you, please get married on Jan 4th, 2013.” Postings like “let’s get married” were popular on internet as the rumor of “the end of world” broke down. The seemingly normal date – 2013.1.4, is called the “true love day” because of the homophonic of “love you for a lifetime” in Chinese (20 means “love you”; 1314 means “a lifetime”).
Civil Affair Department in Beijing projected that the number of registration for marriage will be about 10,000 on this day, a figure more than 7,700 on the “showing love day” – 2012.12.12(12 means “showing love” in Mandarin), but less than 15,000 on the “Everlasting day” – 2009.9.9 (9 means “everlasting” in mandarin) and19,000 on 2008.8.8 (8 means “getting rich” in mandarin). But 10,000 is definitely more than the figure of maximum 4,000 every valentine’s day.
Journalist learned that all the 16 counties of Beijing have prepared for the summit of registration for marriage. Staffs at districts such as Haidian, Xicheng, Dongcheng, Chaoyang will be in office before six in the morning. They will welcome couples before regular working hour and will finish their work after the last couple gets their paper work done. The Beijing Association of Marriage and Family Construction will give courses of “happy marriage training” to the couples while they are waiting in line.
People wait in line at noon on the day before
It was 10:00 pm on Jan 3rd, more than one hundred people were already waiting outside the marriage registration office at Chaoyang District. Although without lights, the crowds were still seen carrying chairs or sitting on the ground. The scene is like the railway station during Spring Festival when workers are waiting to buy tickets to get home.
The first in line was a man named Wang. He said that he was here at 1:00 pm. “there were rumors that the office is open at midnight, some said maybe 5:00 am the next day. So I want to be here early and get the first draw to get it done quickly and not to the delay my work next day” said him.
The person behind him said that he did not make an appointment, so he was worried that he may not get the certificate because of too many people. That’s the reason he came here so early.
Outside the marriage registration office is a parking lot. Tens of cars were still on where sat one of the couples. They were doing shifts every half an hour so that one of them can rest a little bit in the car.
There were even very old people among the crowd. They were standing for their children. Because of the cold weather, people kept calling McDonald’s and KFC for delivery. There was a smell of coffee and black tea in the air.
Staff at the marriage registration office told journalist that most staffs will be in office at 5:00 am. Besides, they will extend their closing hour to make sure every couple gets the marriage certificate.
The experts saying marriage and family need good ways to build
Former director of marriage registration office of Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau said that although the meaning of the day when the young couples are getting married is very good, the possibility of living happily for the rest of their lives depends on their thoughts of building family, the love to each other and the techniques to maintain a good marriage.
Other Source: QQ
