Getting hitched on August 8 By Wang Yi
Publisher:China Daily - Publication Date: 13-06-2008

Local lovebirds who want to tie the knot on August 8, the day the Olympic Games opens, will most likely get their wishes.

The municipal government of Beijing recently denied a rumor that its marriage registration office might close on the day in anticipation of a large crowd of couples much bigger than it could handle.

Vice mayor of Beijing Ding Xiangyang said the government will do its best to accommodate the couples’ wishes to marry on the auspicious day, with three “eights” – a lucky number to Chinese.

Although Ding recommended they use the online registration service, which is more convenient and timesaving, most couples seem in favor of the “I-do” process in person.

Wang Jian and fiancée Liu Lan, both 28, felt relieved upon hearing Ding’s statement. But they weren’t sure if they would be able to make it to the office in the early morning.

So they decided to start queuing from outside the office a day before. That’s because they read about a woman using the name Vivismile who wrote about her registration experience in Beijing on August 8 last year on 55bbs.com, a web community.

Vivismile and her fiancé managed to reach the registration office in Xuanwu District of Beijing at 7 am, one-and-a-half hours ahead of the office opening, only to find 118 couples were ahead of them. Vivismile and her man waited the whole day and didn’t finish the marrige registration until 6 pm.

According to the Legal Evening News, there were at least 1,500 pairs of couples registered to marry in Beijing on Aug 8, 2007.

Tan Rui and his girlfriend Sunny were very close to joining those newlyweds. But they gave up when they saw the long lineup at the registration office.

“There must be a lot more people who registered on August 8 th this year compared than last year and we have decided to get married in July.” Tan explained. “We just don’t want to waste time waiting in line on our wedding day.”

Olympic themed wedding dress photo
Tan and his girlfriend chose another way to associate their marriage with Beijing Olympics -- by being photographed with Games venues in the background.

Since last year, some photo studios in the city started to offer this Olympic-themed service, especially for newlyweds. They either shoot pictures near main venues – mainly around the National Stadium or Bird’s Nest and the National Aquatic Center or Water Cube.

Another option is to just incorporate images of Olympic venues by using software such as Photoshop. The price is about 3,000 yuan (US$435) for an album of 40 pictures.

Tan chose to take photos at the actual venues as they both think computer-made pictures look unreal. However, the memories of the photo shoot memory were not happy ones. They couldn’t enter the Birds' Nest or Water Cube, and standing outside and taking pictures in wedding outfits under the gaze of passersby made them feel embarrassed.

Xiao Jun, one of the wedding photographers thinks wistfully about last November when he made good money out of Olympic-themed photos soon after he began this service.

"At the beginning we posted some picture samples and introductions on the Internet, and people were excited about the idea. We went to the Bird's Nest almost everyday with at least one couple. The stadium was still in construction at that time so we sometimes slipped in to take close shots."

But Xiao finds himself in dilemma now. According to the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), pictures of Olympic venues can only be taken for personal use – professional photo studios are not allowed to offer such themed services for commercial profit. Xiao has had to delete all his advertisements on the Internet, and that means customers can’t find him anymore.

"Even if there were customers, we wouldn’t have a chance to enter the Bird's Nest or Water Cube because they are finished construction. I only offer computer made pictures to couples who want them. But I’m not making much because few people approach me." he says.

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