Marriage frenzy in Beijing   

“201314”成爱你一生一世日 北京新人扎堆结婚

中国许多年轻人认为2013年1月4日的“201314”读上去谐音“爱你一生一世”，并因此将这一天安排为登记结婚的好日子。

Beijing(CNS) -- Thousands of couples in Beijing flocked to tie the knot yesterday, according to the city's Civil Affairs Bureau.

They were eager to wed then because the Chinese pronunciation of the date's digits, 2013-1-4 (er ling yi san yi si), is similar to that of "ai ni yi sheng yi shi," or "love you forever."

By the last day of last year, more than 7,000 couples had made reservations to get married on January 4, according to statistics released by the bureau.

Nearly 1,000 couples had gotten marriage certificates by 10 a.m. Friday in Haidian district, according to the marriage registration office there.