'Only marriages registered on Valentine's Day' just a joke

The civil affairs bureau of Yingzhou district in Fuyang, East China's Anhui province, denied the rumor that it did not handle divorce applications on Valentine's Day.

A staff member of the bureau told sharing website Pear Video that many couples registered for marriage at the bureau on Thursday, Valentine's Day, but divorce procedures were still processed as normal for five couples that day. The claim that "only marriages are registered on Valentine's Day" was just a joke by the staff.

Usually, to save marriages, mediation takes place before a divorce. But if the relationship is broken or other facts are true, then the divorce application would get approved, said the bureau.

Many newlyweds rushed to register their marriages on Thursday, the occasion of Valentine's Day, as they believed it would bring them good luck and a happy life.

The staff at the marriage registry in Yingzhou district worked a half-hour in advance on Thursday, and nearly 100 couples got their marriage licenses in the morning.

"Today we will handle marriages only, because Valentine's Day is supposed to be joyous," the staff joked around on Thursday, claiming several couples who wanted to divorce that morning became reconciled by the staff and gave up on divorce.

Before the bureau clarified the drama, "only marriages are registered on Valentine's Day" sparked heated discussions on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo. Some netizens held the opinion that "divorce is a couple's own business, so the bureau had no right to stop them" while others thought "the staff were just doing this out of goodwill".