Couples flock to register marriage on May 20, 2020

Household registration offices were busy on Wednesday, processing a surge of marriage certificates. May 20, 2020 is a popular wedding date because, with a bit of rearranging, the numbers sound like "love you, love you, I love you." in Chinese. At one center in downtown Taipei, the entire day''s appointment slots were fully booked by couples eager to say "I do" on a sweet and auspicious day.

Wearing matching outfits, the couple walks into the household registration office. They’ve picked today, May 20, as their day to tie the knot. Some couples came in early to be first in line to get hitched.

Newlywed
I was afraid it’d be packed so I came as soon as they opened.

Newlywed
It will only be May 20, 2020 once. It’s especially meaningful. So actually, we decided in the very beginning, which was several years ago, that we would register today.

Newlywed
The date just has a nice ring to it. The more important reason is that this date is hard to forget. So I won’t get scolded by my wife for forgetting our anniversary.

May 20, 2020 is an easy date to remember. In Mandarin Chinese, the numbers also sound like “love you, love you, I love you.” That’s made this date inordinately popular with couples. In previous years, Taipei’s Xinyi District office saw fewer than 40 couples on May 20. This year, all its appointment slots were fully booked, and many more couples turned up as walk-ins.

Newlywed
It’s May 20, 2020. So we came over to register today.

Newlywed
All the appointment slots were taken up, so we thought we might as well come over during working hours in case queues get longer at night.

After completing registration, newlyweds were given a soap gift set and got the opportunity to take a photo with their witnesses against a romantic backdrop. Traditionally, May 20 on the lunar calendar is considered a deeply inauspicious day to get married. But tradition was no matter this year, as couples decided they simply liked the date.

Su Shih-min
Xinyi District Household Registration Office
The sound of the date really is more beautiful this year, so there were more people than previous years. Over the past two days, we’ve had many people ask for their marriage to come into effect today. We told people that our appointment book was packed for this date.

To beat the crowd, some couples did their paperwork early. They asked for their marriages to become effective on May 20, 2020, to take advantage of a once-in-history opportunity.