9,000 Couples to Marry on Lucky 8/8/08

Come the 8th of August, 2008, there will be more than one historical event in China, as some estimated 9,000 couples have will be married on the same day to celebrate the opening of the Olympic Games.

The Chinese government had planned the Olympics to kick off on 8/8/08, due to the number “8″ being very lucky and sounding like part of the phrase “to get rich” in Mandarin.

mass wedding01 9,000 Couples to Marry on Lucky 8/8/08 picture

The thousands of couples hope to also share in the blessing of the rare and lucky date, similar to the 7/7/07 marriage craze in the US.

“We want to show our support for the Olympics, a century-old dream for China, and take part in a major event,” says Liu Huiling, 24, an office assistant. “Who knows if we will ever see another Olympics?”

Before the couples are actually married they will be asked to sign a billboard stating the governments slogan: “A century of the Olympics; a century-long dream; a century-long prayer for happiness; a century of perfect marriage.”

Today was the first day that couples could register to be officially married on the 8th of August and around 1,000 couples have already registered.

The estimated 9,000 couple wedding record would more than double China’s previous single-day wedding record.

(link)

By Sun Tzu on 31-07-2008