Over 9,000 couples are getting married in China on Friday
Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson would be in heaven this Friday in China.
That's because over 9,000 couples are tying the knot all over the country in honor of the Olympic opening ceremonies and because the date will be 8-8-08.
The number 8 is considered to be very lucky in Chinese culture, so as Xinhua (China's state-run news agency) pointed out, many couples believe that getting married on this date will provide them with good fortune.
In Chinese, the Arabic number 8 sounds like "to make a fortune" and many believe the Olympics will make the weddings more meaningful.
I absolutely love this story. I consider myself to be a pretty superstitious person but these couples have taken things to a different level. As if Friday wasn't busy enough already in China, is there anything else that could be going on? Meanwhile, how many couples will be showing up to the opening ceremonies in tuxedos and wedding dresses?
Before they get there though, they will have been asked to sign a governement billboard according to this article in the USA Today:
couples getting married next Friday will be asked to sign billboards with the government's slogan: "A century of the Olympics; a century-long dream; a century-long prayer for happiness; a century of perfect marriage."
The couples getting married on Friday will be joining the "Olympic wedding club" which already includes 99 couples (pictured above) who said "I do" back in June, during a ceremony to welcome the Games.
Hopefully all the "Olympic couples" will live happily ever after but as the USA Today article points out, the divorce rate in Beijing has risen to 39%. How many people will end up hating the number eight and the Olympics a few years from now?
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