Brides and grooms across China rushed to tie the knot on Tuesday,
Feb 22, 2022, a date with many "twos", to take advantage of the
number's pronunciation, which sounds like "love" in Chinese, as
well as a Chinese belief that good things come in pairs.
The date is also the 22nd day of the year's first month on the
Chinese lunar calendar, and netizens have named it the best day of the year for love.
Different hashtags about the date and people getting married on the day trended
on social media.
The Beijing Bureau of Civil Affairs received 4,700 applications for marriage
registration on Tuesday, and the bureau said registry offices had to ensure
marriage licenses are issued, Beijing Daily reported.
In order to cope with the strong demand, marriage registration offices opened
an hour earlier, put more employees on for the day and canceled lunch breaks,
the newspaper said.
The Wuhan Civil Affairs Bureau in Hubei province told China Daily that marriage
registration offices in the city made greater efforts to meet demand and did not
limit the number of marriage registrations on Tuesday.
However, the bureau called on couples to refrain from all trying to get married
on Tuesday and to follow COVID-19 epidemic containment measures. As long
as couples work together and respect each other, any date is a good date to get
married, a bureau official told China Daily.
Guo Mingming and Ou Bowen received their marriage license at Beijing's Fengtai
district marriage registration office during their lunch break on Tuesday.
"We waited in line for more than an hour, but it's worthwhile because a special date
adds to the significance of the occasion and we would have a unique date for the
wedding anniversary," they said.
The couple, who did postgraduate studies together and have been partners for more
than six years, said they are both ready to get married.
Accompanied by their friends, Beijing residents Luo Chen and Meng Jiayi waited for
almost two hours to get married on Tuesday. They chose the date because getting
married is an important event and they want their marriage to be memorable.
"Apart from a special date, what's important for us to have a successful marriage
is to cherish each other's best qualities and tolerate the annoyances," they said.
Dong Xin and her fiance Zhang Yacong waited until midnight on Feb 7 to apply
for their marriage registration on Tuesday, as Beijing allows 15 days of advance
online booking.
They took the day off work and hired a photographer to take photos of the
special occasion.
Every year, there is Valentine's Day and May 20－"520", whose pronunciation
in Chinese sounds similar to "I love you". However, Dong said, a date with so
many "twos" is so rare and special that it cannot be missed.
They also considered Feb 23,2023 if they had failed to get a spot at the registration
office on Tuesday. "We just want our wedding anniversary to be different from that
of other people, but judging by the people waiting in line, it seems we have failed,"
Dong said.