08-08-08, the magical wedding date

More than 16,400 Beijing couples have applied to have their marriages registered on the auspicious date of Aug 8, 2008 (Friday), the municipal bureau of civil affairs said yesterday.

On the same day last year, just 3,390 couples registered their nuptials, it said.

Of this year's total, 12,400 couples made their reservations in person, with the rest applying online, Zhou Libiao, a press official with the bureau told China Daily.