More than 16,400 Beijing couples have applied¹ to have their marriages registered on the auspicious² date of Aug. 8, 2008, the municipal bureau of civil affairs said yesterday.

On the same day last year, just 3,390 couples registered their nuptials³, it said.

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

The deadline for August 8 registrations⁵ reservation was closed yesterday, he said.

The majority of the reservations came from Beijing's eight major districts: Chaoyang, Haidian, Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chongwen, Xuanwu, Fengtai and Shijingshan, Zhou said.

In anticipation⁶ of the huge demand, authorities in 18 districts and counties in the capital began taking registrations for the special day at the start of June, he said.

Once the applications have been processed, the couples simply have to call into the relevant office on Friday to collect their marriage certificates, he said.

Wu Shimin, head of the Beijing municipal civil affairs bureau said all marriage registration⁴ departments will be open from 6 am to 6 pm on Friday.

"Our goal is to provide 100 percent satisfaction for all the couples," he said during a tour of the marriage registration office in the Chaoyang District, which is expected to hand out more than 3,000 marriage licenses⁷ on Friday.

Zhang Fengxiang, head of the Chaoyang District civil affairs bureau said more than 100 extra staff will be present to handle everything from handing out certificates to helping⁸ with car parking.

There will even be a priority channel for couples who are also Olympic staff or volunteers, he said.

Li Chaogang, head of the Fengtai District civil affairs bureau, said its marriage registration office will be decorated in a wedding style to celebrate the special day.

"New couples will feel like they are entering a wedding hall," he said.

About 1,600 couples will collect their documents at the Fengtai office, more than 30 times the average for a normal day, he said.

Record numbers of marriage registrations are also anticipated in other cities throughout China.

In Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, the number of reservations for August 8 was up to 3,198, as of Friday, the China News Service reported yesterday.

The number eight is believed to bring happiness and fortune. The three eights in Aug 8, 2008, therefore, make that day especially popular.

"Eight is such an auspicious number, and with the opening of the Beijing Olympics, the whole nation will be celebrating with us," said Li Jun, who will be among those officially getting married on Friday.

"And having 2008-08-08 stamped on my marriage certificate will make it extra special," he said.