Lin Beixuan, 26，and her fiancé, both employees at the IBM research center, will join thousands of Chinese love birds queuing at the marriage registration office on August 8, a significant day for the Chinese because the number 8, considered to be auspicious by many Chinese, symbolizes wealth and prosperity.

“We chose the day because the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games will be held,” Lin said.

Olympic Games organizers have added an extra eight for good measure by scheduling the opening ceremony for 8 p.m.

According to the marriage registration office in the Fangshan district, some 600 couples have booked the date to register their marriages since special booking services opened on June 5.

Lin Beixuan, 26，and her fiancé, sitting on the grass with a big smile,  will join thousands of Chinese love birds queuing at the marriage registration office on August 8.

Couples who plan to tie the knot on August 8 can use an online service that files paperwork in advance to speed up the marriage process. Couples can also go straight to the registration office to get their certificates.

The marriage registration office staff has even given up their weekends ahead of the Games in order to satisfy a surging demand.

“You’d better come a lot earlier than usual to get in the line because there will be a huge queue that day,” said a staff member at the Fangshan district registration office.

“On special days, we normally expect to see a huge crowd of people getting married. But we anticipate the record will be broken on August 8.”

The speed-up service will allow all couples to collect their certificates on August 8 in less than two minutes, compared to the average 10 to 15 minutes.

Despite the flood of weddings, wedding banquet halls are facing a drought of bookings, as many newly married couples plan to postpone their banquets.

“We decided to delay the banquet for another day to avoid being upstaged by the opening ceremony, which will feature thousands of performers. Also, the alternating odd-even license plate restriction on private cars in Beijing will be enforced,” said Lin Beixuan, who has been dating her fiancé for three years.

“We thought about holding the banquet on the outskirts of Beijing, but we figured it was too inconvenient,” Lin said.

“Since it would overlap with the Olympic opening ceremony, most guests probably wouldn’t have time or the interest to come to our celebration,” one couple said.

“We have no dining hall available that day,” said the manager of Beijing Jade Palace Hotel. “We have many world leaders and athletes’ guests from all over the world during game time; most rooms are fully booked on August 8 and most weekends through October.”

In fact, many Olympic contract hotel runners are reluctant or refuse to offer wedding ceremony services for security reasons.

In addition, the traffic restrictions that allow vehicles with even and odd license plate numbers to hit the roads only on alternate days are already in effect, which could be an inconvenience to those holding a wedding party.

Couples are encouraged to go to the registration office by bus.

"Since we don’t have tickets to the opening ceremony, we want to watch the fireworks outside the Bird's Nest on Friday evening. It is a once-in-a-lifetime celebration for us,” said Lin, smiling shyly.