China's love-struck looking to Olympics for marriage luck

Zhang Jie and Ma Yue plan to be among the crush of love-struck Chinese getting married at the start of the Olympics despite a series of disasters that have cast doubt over the auspicious day.

Friday's opening of the Beijing Games falls on the eighth day of the eighth month of 2008, which is no coincidence as the number eight is traditionally considered lucky in China due to it sounding like the word for wealth.

"Eight is a number that brings good luck in China, and that's why the Chinese often choose the eighth to get married," said Zhang, 24, at a registry office in southwest Beijing as the couple booked their place to tie the knot.

But a succession of disasters in China -- extreme bad weather in the south during Chinese New Year, violence in Tibet, and the earthquake in Sichuan -- has made some Chinese doubt the benefits of 2008.

Some Chinese netizens have even gone as far as to say the mascots of the Olympic Games are cursed.

Jingjing the panda, for them, represents the devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake two months ago in Sichuan province, where the majority of the endangered animals live. The earthquake was on May 12, 88 days before the Games.

Yingying the Tibetan antelope evokes this year's deadly unrest in Tibet, while Huanhuan is a flame that for many brings back memories of the protests that embarrassed China during the Olympic torch's international journey.

But Zhang emphatically rejected these bad omens surrounding number eight.

"That's only superstition. When one portrays accidental events as inevitable, that's a form of superstition, isn't it?" the university student said.

Registration for weddings on August 8 in Beijing opened on June 20 and finished on Tuesday to avoid any last minute scrambles.

Around the country, thousands of people are also planning to get married on August 8, with China's press carrying countless articles on the phenomenon.

Zhang and Ma's special day also carried an additional meaning for them, as they are both volunteers for the first ever Olympic Games organised in China.

"Our work during the Games mainly involves welcoming the foreign sports delegations and to look after their living arrangements and daily needs," Zhang said.

The young couple said they would spare a few hours of their busy volunteering schedule on the eighth to get married, but the party would have to wait.

"The eighth of August is only the date to get our marriage certificate," Zhang said.

"Our wedding ceremony, however, will not be this basic. We will organise it in 2009, but we must first devote all our efforts to the Olympic Games.

"The eighth of August 2008 will be a lucky day. And the Olympic Games will be successful, and we are very proud of the event."