‘I Love You’ in numbers: marriage registrations in Beijing increase on May 20, May 21

May 20 and 21 have become peak days for marriage registrations in China following the implementation of a new nationwide marriage registration policy. A representative of the marriage registration service center of the Civil Affairs Bureau of Beijing's Dongcheng District told the Global Times that 350 and 450 couples had made appointments for marriage registration on these two days respectively this year, nearly double the number from 2024.

May 20 and May 21 are especially popular dates for couples to tie the knot, as the number "520" and "521" both sound phonetically similar to "I love you" in Chinese, making them symbolic "days of love" for many.

Many netizens expressed frustration at not being able to secure appointments due to the overwhelming popularity of the date. 

"I waited two hours and still couldn't get a slot," one netizen wrote on Chinese social media platform RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu. Others said even making reservations a month in advance was insufficient.  

Beijing-based Lin Luwen told the Global Times she plans to register her marriage on Wednesday, though she found the time slots were nearly fully booked when checking the system a week earlier.

"The registry office has created special decorations for this marriage registration peak," she said. "This feels like the perfect time for my fiancé and me to get our marriage certificate - it's romantic and will surely become a cherished memory."

To better accommodate the demand, a representative from the marriage registration service center of the Civil Affairs Bureau of Beijing's Dongcheng District, surnamed Li, noted that couples who fail to secure an online appointment but meet the necessary requirements will still be accepted for registration after those with appointments.

Meanwhile, staff at civil affairs bureaus in many regions also adjusted their working hours in advance to accommodate the surge in marriage registrations, including several cities in East China's Jiangsu Province, according to a local media outlet in Jiangsu.

A Beijing-based white-collar worker surnamed Xiong, who registered for marriage on Tuesday, also mentioned the adjusted schedule. She told the Global Times, "I arrived at a civil affairs bureau in Beijing's Chaoyang district around 8 am because I received a message yesterday saying the bureau had adjusted its opening time to 8 am for Tuesday."

When it comes to the actual registration process, she said that she only needed to hand in her and her husband's IDs and three red-background photos and sign some paperwork. "The entire process was efficient and was completed in around 10 minutes," she said.

In addition, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Tuesday that electronic marriage certificates can now be acquired by couples on China's national integrated online government service platform. 

Electronic marriage certificates are already being used in various scenarios such as household registration, real estate registration, housing loan applications, and home purchase eligibility reviews. 

China's revised marriage registration regulations came into effect on May 10, simplifying the procedure for marriage registration and allowing couples to register anywhere in the country regardless of their hukou household registration locations, according to a previous report.

The simplification of the marriage registration process has led to an increase in the number of couples getting married. According to The Paper on Tuesday, civil affairs departments in Shanghai have seen a surge in appointments from couples across the country following the implementation of the new nationwide policy.