090909 reasons to say 'I do'...

And amongst those leading the romantic race on 9-9-09 were the Chinese, thanks to nine, nine, or jiu, jiu, meaning "for a long time." Another nine added for the year could only make the day even luckier.

Mainland media said at least 3,500 couples made online bookings to marry in three Beijing districts, along with 5,000 in Shanghai and more than 6,100 in Guangzhou.

Several other mainland cities each reported at least 2,000 weddings.

In Hong Kong, 131 couples got hitched.

"We were going to get married in March, but when we looked at the calendar and saw September 9, we changed our minds," a young man surnamed Yang said on Beijing television.