Valentine's Day is becoming hugely popular for marriages here in the Chinese capital with record 2,689 couples getting married on Saturday.
The number showed a sharp rise of nearly 2,000 marriages over the Valentine's Day last year. It is also the highest figure since August 8, 2008, the day the Beijing Olympics opened, said Li Ziwei, chief of the marriage registration section with the municipal department of civil affairs.
Haidian District, home to higher learning institutes and hi-tech firms, had the most marriages with more than 600 on Saturday alone, Xinhua news agency reported.
It did not provide a national break-up of marriages held yesterday.
Li said the wedding boom was not just because it was a Saturday and Valentine's Day but also because it was an even numbered day according to the lunar calendar. The Chinese associate even numbers with good luck.
The current economic crisis was also said to be another factor behind the boom. "With the financial crisis, many people, especially young people, have chosen to shift their focus of life from career to family," said Li.
