Tens of thousands of Chinese couples rushed to tie the knot across the nation Wednesday, or 09/09/09, hoping that the "triple 9 day" will bring them good luck and eternal love.

In Mandarin Chinese, the number "9" is pronounced the same as the word "jiu" which means "forever, perpetual or eternal."

In the Chinese capital of Beijing alone, 18,979 couples stood in long queues to register for marriage Wednesday, setting a one-day record in six decades. The figure was many times the daily average and exceeded the previous record of 15,646 seen on Aug. 8, 2008, a "triple 8 day" when the 29th Olympic Games opened in Beijing.

At the marriage register office in the city's Chaoyang District, clerks began working and issuing marriage certificates after midnight Tuesday to cope with the surge of marriage applications.

Similar scenes were also seen in many other cities as well. In the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, more than 6,000 couples have applied to the city's 24 marriage register offices, and the figure was about 3,000 for the eastern city of Nanjing, according to local civil affairs authorities.

"The figure 6,106 sets a one-day record for marriages since 1949, when the People's Republic of China was founded," said Li Zhizhen, director of Guangzhou Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau.

"The final figure of the marriage certificates issued today is likely to be more than that," he said.

On Aug, 8 last year, 3,300 couples got married in Guangzhou.

In some cities, many couples and their families had to queue up outside the marriage register offices from Tuesday afternoon on. Civil affairs authorities in different cities had to increase staff, work longer hours and open more offices to cope.

"What a good day it is! We are very lucky that we get married today. The auspicious number stands for our eternal love," said a young man Zhang Peng with his girlfriend at a register office in Gaoxin District in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

"We came here yesterday to see about the route and location of the register office, hoping to get the certificate sooner today," he said.

A clerk Huang Shan at the office said at least 140 couples had been waiting in a long queue within an hour of the office opening at 7 a.m..

"There are too many couples coming here today, and the one-hour figure has exceeded that of the whole day of the 'Olympic opening day' last year," she said.

"But we will ensure all of them can get their marriage certificates today," she added.

In the eastern city of Qingdao, a total of 3,086 couples obtained their marriage certificates Wednesday. The figure was 16 times that of the daily average and surpassed that of 2,973 recorded on the "Olympic opening day" last year, statistics with the Qingdao Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau show.

China saw a peak of marriage registrations and weddings on Aug. 8, 2008. Tens of thousands of couples across the nation chose the "triple 8 day," or 08/08/08, to tie the knot, as "8" is also an auspicious number among Chinese that is believed to be able to bring wealth, fortune and luck for people.

At least 314,224 couples tied the knot across the nation on 08/08/08, a one-day record for marriages since 1949, statistics with the Ministry of Civil Affairs show. In the Olympic host city of Beijing alone, 15,646 couples were married, 23 times the daily average. To put those numbers in perspective, there were 170,000 marriages in Beijing in all of 2006, a 25-year record.

The northwestern city of Urumqi that is still recovering from a riot in July also witnessed a surge of marriage registrations Wednesday.

At the marriage register office in the city's Saybag District, young couples have been standing in a long line of more than 50 meters since 9 a.m. when the office opened.

"I specially asked for leave to come here for marriage registration," said 27-year-old woman Mihanrilieyi of the Uygur ethnic group, who works at the airport.

At another register office in Tianshan District, Yibadaiti Yishake, who works at a neighborhood community, also received her certificate.

"We have been waiting a long time today to get our marriage certificate. We will hold a wedding on Oct. 4," she said.

"In the very near future, we will greet the 60th anniversary of the founding of New China, and I hope the life of residents in the city will soon return to normal," she said.

As the lucky days of 08/08/08 and 09/09/09 have passed, many young people began to eye 10/10/10, which means perfection in everything, and 11/11/11, which means wholeheartedness.

But sociologists have warned young people against blindly following the trend, as "rushed marriages" have led to "rushed divorces" in some cities.

A survey by the Marriage Registration Center at the Pudong New District in Shanghai showed that about 20 couples among the 917 total who obtained their marriage certificates at the center on 08/08/08 have broken up. In one case, a couple got to know each other on Aug. 1 and rushed to marry on Aug. 8 for the "Olympic marriage certificate," but they separated in October.

"An auspicious date cannot guarantee an eternal marriage," said Hu Guangwei, deputy director of the Social Studies Institute of the Sichuan Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.

"Lucky number day is mainly a psychological comfort, and couples had better not simply follow suit to get married in a rush without truly knowing each other," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2009)