Oct. 2, 2003 — China is celebrating National Day with an unprecedented number of marriages and record-breaking travel, state media reported Thursday.
More than 2,000 couples tied the knot in the Chinese capital alone on the first day of the week-long holiday, the Beijing Star Daily said.
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The number of marriages Wednesday was the largest number in a single day in the city's history, the Beijing Times said.
In Tianjin, Beijing's port city, more than 600 couples were married on National Day, nearly three times as many as the previous daily record, according to China News Service.
Couples were not only taking advantage of the holiday, but also new nationwide rules that make it easier to get married.
The rules, which took effect Wednesday, mean couples no longer need a health certificate or a special declaration from their employer testifying they are single.
Obtaining the two documents had been a costly formality. However, it had also become a way for employers and officials to make money on the side.
Even discounting official corruption, it had cost 28 dollars for would-be couples to obtain the licenses, a steep price in a country where monthly disposable income averages 642 yuan in the richer cities.
Under the new rules, couples need only show their ID cards, produce residency documents and sign a statement declaring they are single. The charge has also been reduced, to just nine yuan, according to China News Service.
"In past National Days, we did not work. But because of the new regulation taking effect on National Day, we are all in the office this time," said an official at the marriage registration office of Beijing's Chaoyang district, which continued to be flooded by a large number of couples Thursday.
"We worked from 7 o'clock in the morning to midnight and we even had little time for lunch."
The break is one of three officially designated annual "golden week" holidays, meant to get China's 1.3 billion people to spend more lavishly to help lift the economy.
The previous golden week, in early May, was cancelled because of the outbreak of the pneumonia-like SARS disease, and the government is hopeful this holiday will boost spending in travel and retail sales, both severely affected by the spring outbreak.
Tens of millions of people were expected to travel by train, bus or boat during the holiday, the Xinhua news agency said, quoting tourism officials who predicted the figure would top the 59.5 million who traveled during the New Year golden week early in the year.
Preliminary tallies from the first day of the holiday Wednesday indicate many popular tourist cities and spots were already experiencing record visitor numbers.
According to the People's Daily, the number of tourists holidaying around the country Wednesday increased by 5.8 percent from last year's National Day holiday.
Ticket sales alone amounted to 5.4 million US dollars — an increase of 4.3 percent year-on-year.
In Beijing, record passenger flows on subway trains reached 2.25 million people Wednesday, exceeding previous highs by about 100,000, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
Security guards were stationed at major subway stations to control crowds.
The city's railway department reported 210,000 people left the capital by train on Tuesday while 194,000 arrived, the Beijing Star Daily said.
Air passenger volume was also high Tuesday, with 835 flights or 60,000 passengers, departing or landing at Capital International Airport Tuesday, the paper said. There were 902 air movements Wednesday.
The capital's bus companies estimated they serviced 14 million passengers Wednesday, the Beijing Star added.
Major tourist destinations, such as southern China's Guilin city — famous for its breathtaking scenery — are close to or have surpassed the visitor numbers they saw in the same period last year, the Beijing Times reported.
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