September 9th 2009 Eternal Love Day



September 9th, 2009


I will love you for as long as I live


It’s not flowers or chocolates or sentimental cards. It’s strength, hope and an otherworldly commitment. As these two couples show, it really is endless.

By Alcestis "Cooky" Oberg

Valentine's Day is supposed to celebrate love. What it really celebrates is one tiny corner of love — romance. That part bombards us. It fills our TV screens, our bookshelves, our airwaves and our culture — most of it is lame fantasy nonsense, as if there were nothing else.

In real life, love is something completely different. It's not found in the narcissism of celebrities who flit from romance to romance. Instead it abides imperceptibly in the hearts and lives of millions of people who are not famous, but whose daily actions are a poem to love. This Valentine's Day, we should reflect on those bedrock components of love that so rarely are depicted or celebrated in our culture: loyalty, commitment and devotion — lifelong, steadfast and unconditional.

Beijing, Sep 9 (Xinhua) Tens of thousands of Chinese couples rushed to tie the knot across the nation Wednesday, or 09/09/09, hoping that the “triple 9 day” will bring them good luck and eternal love. In Mandarin, the number “9″ is pronounced the same as the word “jiu” that means “forever, perpetual or eternal”.

Major cities saw a surge of applications to wed Wednesday. In the southern metropolis of Guangzhou alone, more than 6,000 couples applied to the city’s 24 marriage register offices, and the figure was about 3,000 for the eastern city of Nanjing, according to civil affairs authorities.

“The figure 6,106 sets a one-day record for marriages since 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded,” said Li Zhizhen, director of Guangzhou Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau.

“The final figure of the marriage certificates issued today (Wednesday) is likely to be more than that,” he said.

In some cities, many couples and their families had to queue up outside the marriage registrar’s offices from Tuesday afternoon. Civil affairs authorities in different cities had to increase staff, work longer hours and open more offices to cope with the rush.

“What a good day it is! We are very lucky that we get married today (Wednesday). The auspicious number stands for our eternal love,” said Zhang Peng who was with his girlfriend at a register office in Gaoxin District in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

“We came here yesterday (Tuesday) to see about the route and location of the register office, hoping to get the certificate sooner today (Wednesday),” he said.

Huang Shan, a clerk at the office, said at least 140 couples were waiting in a long queue since 7 a.m.

“We will ensure all of them can get their marriage certificates today (Wednesday),” she said.

In the eastern city of Qingdao, a total of 3,086 couples obtained their marriage certificates Wednesday.

The figure was 16 times more that of the daily average and surpassed that of 2,973 recorded on the “Olympic opening day” last year, statistics with the Qingdao Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau show.

China saw a peak of marriage registrations and weddings Aug 8, 2008 when the 29th Olympic Games opened in Beijing.

Tens of thousands of couples across the nation chose the “triple 8 day”, or 08/08/08, to tie the knot, as “8″ is also an auspicious number among Chinese and is believed to be able to bring wealth, fortune and luck for people.

At least 314,224 couples tied the knot across the nation on 08/08/08, a one-day record for marriages since 1949, statistics with the Ministry of Civil Affairs show.

In the Olympic host city of Beijing alone, 15,646 couples were married, 23 times the daily average. To put those numbers in perspective, there were 170,000 marriages in Beijing in all of 2006, a 25-year record.

The northwestern city of Urumqi that is still recovering from a riot in July also witnessed a surge in marriage registrations Wednesday.

At the marriage register office in the city’s Saybag district, couples have been standing in a long line since 9 a.m. when the office opened.

“I specially asked for leave to come here for marriage registration,” said 27-year-old Mihanrilieyi.

At another register office in Tianshan District, Yibadaiti Yishake also received her certificate.

As the lucky days of 08/08/08 and 09/09/09 have passed, many young people began to eye 10/10/10, which means perfection in everything, and 11/11/11, which means wholeheartedness.

But sociologists have warned young people against blindly following the trend, as “rushed marriages” have led to “rushed divorces” in some cities.

A survey by the Marriage Registration Center at the Pudong new district in Shanghai showed that about 20 couples among the 917 who obtained their marriage certificates at the center on 08/08/08 have broken up.

In one case, a couple got to know each other Aug 1 and rushed to marry Aug 8 for the “Olympic marriage certificate”, but they separated in October.

“An auspicious date cannot guarantee an eternal marriage,” said Hu Guangwei, deputy director of the Social Studies Institute of the Sichuan Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.

Lucky number day is mainly a psychological comfort, and couples should not simply follow suit to get married in a rush without truly knowing each other,” he said.

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