Wedding rush ahead of 'widow year'
Superstition says couples have nothing to crow about in the next 12 months
Long lines and hours of waiting are standing in the way of marital bliss on the mainland as superstitious couples mob government offices to marry before an unlucky year under the lunar calendar.
This year the lunar cycle begins relatively late, on February 9, meaning it will not contain lichun, the auspicious day marking the start of spring. This has earned it the dubious distinction of being a 'widow' year, or unlucky for wedlock.
In Shanghai, newlyweds quadrupled to more than 8,000 last month as couples rushed to marry before the Year of the Monkey becomes the Year of the Rooster.
At the Xuhui District Marriage Registration Office, couples lined up as they waited for clerks in red blazers to say the words that would help bring them together in matrimony: 'Next in line!'
'The Year of the Rooster is the widow year and my boyfriend doesn't want to die early. If some people haven't applied for their marriage licences yet, this will encourage them to live together,' government researcher Zang Yi said.
Although the mainland has sought to stamp out 'feudal superstition', the traditional belief is impossible to eradicate even in Shanghai, the most modern city on the mainland.
'If we can choose the date, why not choose a more auspicious day?' said Simon Song, of the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, who married late in December to beat the deadline.
The marriage frenzy is expected to peak on Monday, the last day many district offices are open before the Lunar New Year starts on Wednesday.
Officials are disapproving but powerless.
'All we can do is to persuade people and help them understand that there is no need to worry about predictions without a scientific basis,' said Xu Jianping , an official of Shanghai's Spiritual Civilisation Office.
The taboo apparently does not apply to holding the traditional wedding banquet, just completing the legal procedures to marry. Many hotels said they were already booked at least six months in advance as the couples who married in December and last month planned celebrations.
Canadian national Max Hejazi, co-manager of the marketing department at the Ruijin Hotel, confessed he was somewhat puzzled by the phenomenon but it has certainly been good for business.
'We have been very busy. Sometimes we even have up to five wedding ceremonies during the weekend,' Mr Hejazi said.
Lisa Li , sales manager at the Halen Wedding Services Centre, said couples were even refusing to wait for auspicious days, with lucky dates, in the panic to marry before the unlucky year.
'We have been receiving some 20 couples a week. And it used to be only the days with lucky numbers and the weekend, but now it's like every day is a wedding day,' she said.
Additional reporting by Eva Woo and Lillian Yang
