Rush to wed in Year of Dog
25/1/2006 11:05
Couples across China are rushing to get married soon after the Year of the
Dog starts on Sunday.
Elderly people consider the Year of the Dog
auspicious for weddings. The lunar cycle begins relatively early in the coming
year and will last 385 days until February 17, 2007 ¡ª a phenomenon that has
occurred only 12 times in more than 2,300 years. The last 385-day lunar year was
1944.
As the year is unusually long, it will have 13 months, with an
extra month between the seventh and eighth months of the lunar calendar.
There will also be two "lichun" ¡ª the auspicious day marking the
beginning of spring ¡ª on February 4 of 2006 and 2007.
"Most elderly
people believe a year with two beginnings of spring and an extra month is a
golden time to tie the knot," said Fei Guangze, general manager of Suren Wedding
Service Co in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province.
Fei's
company provides wedding products and services ranging from gowns and fancy
photo albums to bridal make-ups, luxury wedding cars and witty masters of
ceremonies.
"We're fully booked with weddings in February, March, May
and October ¡ª some couples made reservations a year in advance," he said.
A community service station of the civil affairs department in Hefei's
Luyang District has had more than 20 couples a day for marriage registration
since the start of January, about twice the daily average in the past 10 months,
an official said.
"They are all preparing for weddings in the Year of
the Dog," he said.
Many other cities have also reported soaring marriage
registrations.
Many couples chickened out of getting married in the Year
of the Rooster because the year from February 9, 2005, to January 28, 2006, does
not contain "lichun."
They believe that makes it a "widow year," or an
unlucky year to get married.
A similar marriage rush was reported in
January 2005.
"Though the 'widow year' is nonsense, the fact people
avoid it reflects strong desire for a happy marriage," Zhang Youde, a
sociologist at Shanghai University, said.
Many young people, however,
believe love should prevail over traditional beliefs.
"It doesn't matter
to me when we get married," said Beijing resident Wang Lin. "My girlfriend and I
will get married when we feel like it."
Xinhua news
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