Beijing - Forget the weather, the flowers and the bride's dress - 10 October 2010 - looks like the perfect day for thousands of young Chinese who have set that date to tie the knot.
Due to the huge demand for weddings today, marriage registry offices across the country have opened early.
10 October 2010 (10/10/10) is auspiciously referred to as "shi quan shi mei," or "perfect in every way." As the word "shi" also means "10," many couples hope the numerical convergence will bless their union.
Government agencies in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and other large cities will open as usual to register newlyweds, despite it being the first day off since the end of the week-long National Day sojourn.
Beijing Bureau of Civil Affairs has opened the doors of its marriage registry offices as early as 6am today.
More than 1 200 couples have made reservations at the registry office in the city's Haidian Distrct, the most in a single day this year.
Gao Jie, 27, an office worker in a Beijing consulting company, made a reservation in early September with his girlfriend.
"Booking in advance was essential as we were told that hundreds of couples were going to register there Sunday. No one can register a marriage that day without a reservation," Gao said.
A native of the northwestern Shaanxi Province, Gao said they chose the special day because he and his girlfriend had been together for 10 years since they were high school classmates.
"So this day is even more special for us," Gao said.
In the northern Tianjing Municipality, which has a population of about 12 million, more than 5 000 weddings are scheduled for today.
Cui Weixi, general manager of a Tianjin-based wedding organiser, said he loved weddings and his staff of 40 had worked overtime everyday recently to meet the demand of 20 "shi quan shi mei" couples on Sunday.
At weddings, "perfection" can be symbolised in images of the moon, the number 10, or a 10-layered wedding cake.
Each wedding limousine would carry five brides at different times on Sunday, said Cui.
