Beijing marriage registry authority is to open over the two coming weekends (July 19-20 and 26-27) for couples who want to book the Olympic opening day of August 8 as their wedding date.

"Considering many people have no time to apply for the date in person on workdays, we decided to give up the weekend holiday," said Li Ziwei, head of the marriage registry office of Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau.

Chinese people are keen to tie the knot on an auspicious date. They link "8" with "good fortune. The opening date of the Beijing Olympics -- August 8 -- adds new meaning.

In anticipation of a marriage registration boom on August 8, Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau opened a marriage booking service from June 20 to August 5.

"With the booking form, couples will get their marriage certificates on August 8 within one or two minutes," Li said.

"But usually, it takes about 10 minutes to fulfill the registration."

From June 20 till Tuesday, 6,100 couples had booked the date at the marriage register offices in Beijing, and more than 2,000 others had done it online.

People can apply for the registration date through the Beijing Municipal Marriage and Adoption Registration Services Website (www.bjhysy.bjmzj.gov.cn) or the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau website (www.bjmzj.gov.cn).

(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2008)