Marriage: Mass weddings held across regions to promote simple ceremonies

多地举办集体婚礼倡导婚事简办

Couples across China are rushing to tie the knot on Wednesday and Thursday — May 20 and May 21 — two dates that sound like "I love you" when said aloud in Mandarin, with marriage registration slots fully booked weeks in advance in several major cities.

全国多地情侣争相在5月20日和5月21日登记结婚——这两个日期的中文谐音均为“我爱你”。多个大城市的婚姻登记预约名额早在数周前就已约满。

In Chinese, "520" is pronounced similarly to the Mandarin equivalent of "I love you", making May 20 a sought-after day for registering marriages. The following day, May 21 — or "521" — carries a similar meaning, offering a popular and much-needed alternative.

在中文里，“520”的发音与“我爱你”相近，因此5月20日成为情侣登记结婚的热门日子。紧随其后的5月21日（“521”）同样寓意美好，为那些错过首日的新人提供了一个同样受欢迎且急需的备选。

All slots in the 15 marriage registration offices in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, were fully booked for May 20 by the first week of this month, as they were in Shenzhen. In Nanjing, Jiangsu province, more than 1,400 couples had reserved May 20 as their chosen date by late April, with scenic registration sites such as the Confucius Temple already at capacity. Some locations were fully booked for May 21 as well.

截至5月第一周，广东省广州市15个婚姻登记处5月20日的预约名额已全部约满，深圳的情况同样如此。在江苏省南京市，截至4月底已有超过1400对新人预约了5月20日登记，夫子庙等风景优美的登记点早已满额。部分登记点5月21日的名额也已约满。

Wuxi, another city in Jiangsu, has no online slots left for May 20, though local authorities said that couples could still register as walk-ins.

江苏省无锡市的5月20日线上预约名额也已告罄。不过当地民政部门表示，新人仍可现场直接办理登记。

For one Beijing-based couple, securing a May 20 slot required a midnight digital scramble. Guo Xiangyu, 30, a doctoral student from Xi'an in Shaanxi province, and Yan Xin, 34, an internet worker from Baoji, also in Shaanxi, booked their appointment two weeks in advance. The couple and both sets of parents logged into the system at midnight across PCs and mobile devices, and Yan managed to secure a slot. "We expected it to be crowded, so we feel very lucky," she said.

对北京的一对新人而言，抢到5月20日的登记名额需要一场午夜“数字鏖战”。30岁的郭翔宇（音译）是陕西西安人，目前是一名博士生；34岁的闫昕（音译）来自陕西宝鸡，从事互联网工作。两人提前两周就预约了登记。当天午夜，他们和双方父母分头用电脑和手机登录系统，最终闫昕成功抢到了名额。“我们早知道会很火爆，所以感觉特别幸运，”闫昕说。

In preparation, the couple had completed free premarital medical checks at a Beijing hospital, taken registration photos at a commercial studio and hired a photographer to document their special day near the civil affairs bureau.

为迎接这一天，两人事先在北京一家医院完成了免费婚检，在商业摄影机构拍好了登记照，还专门聘请了一位摄影师，计划在民政局附近记录下这个特殊的日子。

The pair met via social media, bonding over photography and skiing, and dated for two-and-a-half years before deciding to marry. They chose May 20 partly because its homophone "520" is a declaration of love in Chinese and is often seen as a Valentine's Day equivalent. "We want to celebrate our anniversary and 520 together," Yan said.

两人通过社交媒体相识，因摄影和滑雪结缘，恋爱两年半后决定携手步入婚姻。他们选择5月20日登记，部分原因在于“520”谐音“我爱你”，被视为中国的情人节。“我们想把结婚纪念日和520一起庆祝，”闫昕说。

Both originally from Shaanxi but living in Beijing for work and study, the couple benefited from a revised marriage regulation introduced in May 2025. The rule ended a decades-old restriction that required people to register their marriage in a place where either spouse's household registration was recorded. Now, couples can marry anywhere in the country without presenting their household registration booklet. "It saved us time and travel costs, and made us feel more connected to Beijing," Guo said.

两人籍贯均为陕西，但因工作和学习长期生活在北京。2025年5月出台的婚姻登记新规让他们受益良多。这项政策打破了延续数十年的限制——过去，新人必须在其中一方的户籍所在地才能办理结婚登记。如今，情侣可以在全国任意城市登记结婚，且无需出示户口本。“新规为我们节省了时间和路费，也让我们对北京更有归属感，”郭翔宇说。

Thursday or May 21 is the choice of many this year as it coincides with xiao man, or Grain Buds, a traditional Chinese solar term. Song Jian, an engineer from Sichuan province, chose this date over May 20. "The solar term carries a beautiful saying — a modest half-full state is better than perfection," he said. "That fits our relationship well. You don't have to pursue perfection in life; being content with what you have is enough."

今年，5月21日也成为许多新人的首选，因为这一天恰逢中国传统二十四节气中的“小满”。来自四川的工程师宋健（音译）便放弃了5月20日，选择了这一天。“小满这个节气有一句美好的说法——‘人生小满胜万全’，”他说，“这正好契合我们的感情。人生不必事事追求完美，知足常乐就够了。”

Multiple provincial-level regions have also organized mass wedding ceremonies on and around the two dates to promote simple ceremonies.

多个省份还在5月20日及前后组织了集体婚礼，倡导婚事简办的新风尚。

In Hainan province, collective weddings will be held on Wednesday at coastal venues, including Coconut Dream Corridor in Sanya and the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site. Zhejiang province hosted a ceremony on Saturday featuring 520 couples, with a main venue in Hangzhou linked to dozens of sub-venues across the province. Guangdong organized military-civilian collective weddings in Guangzhou on Monday, Zhaoqing on Sunday, Foshan on Friday and Zhongshan on Saturday, involving more than 1,000 couples.

海南省于5月20日在三亚椰梦长廊、文昌航天发射场等海滨场地举办了集体婚礼。浙江省于上周末举行了一场集体婚礼，共有520对新人参与，主会场设在杭州，与省内数十个分会场联动。广东省则分别在广州、肇庆、佛山、中山举办了军地共建集体婚礼，参与新人超过1000对。

"This collective wedding is a celebration that's both sweet and green, without the complicated preparations," one groom, Zhong Zhiyuan, who was part of the Guangzhou weddings, was quoted by the local media as saying.

据当地媒体报道，参与广州集体婚礼的一位新郎钟志远（音译）说：“这场集体婚礼既甜蜜又‘环保’，省去了繁杂的筹备。”

But not everyone is keen on getting married on popular dates. Yang Xinran, a marketing professional from the Chinese mainland who now works in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, registered her marriage in Beijing last...