Its not just opening ceremony of Olympics that will keep China busy on August 8 but the festivity will be doubled as thousands of couples are planning to tie the knot the same day, considered a "magical wedding date."


More than 16,400 couples in the Chinese capital have applied to obtain a wedding license on August 8, the opening date for Beijing Olympics.


Chinese link "eight" with "good fortune" and feel the opening date of Beijing Olympics, which is 08/08/08, adds a new meaning to it.


The deadline to apply for registering marriages on the "auspicious date" ended yesterday.


Majority of the reservations were from Beijing's eight major districts, a Bureau press official was quoted as saying.
 

Anticipating a marriage boom, the Bureau had begun the registration for obtaining wedding license on June 20.


After the applications have been processed, the couples simply have to call into the relevant office on Friday to collect their marriage certificates. All marriage registration departments will open from 6 am to 6 pm on Friday.


More than 100 extra staff has been deployed to handle everything from handing out certificates to assisting in car parking.