August 8, 2008: Vol. 31, No. 32
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Aug. 8 was a lucky day for a wedding — at least for believers in Chinese numerology. Here groom Paul Tsung and his wife Mimi Chen pose for post-nuptial pictures.
Chinese numerology adherents believe that Aug. 8, 2008 was a particularly fortuitous day. No wonder so many people got married on the day.
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del.icio.usFor some, it was Aug. 8, 2008. But for fans of Chinese numerology (and, really, who isn’t these days?), it was 8-8-08 — the most fortuitous date on the calendar until 2888.
For Chinese couples looking to get lucky in love — or to have particularly blessed babies — last Friday was the day.
The Chinese believe that eight is a lucky number because the word “eight” in Chinese sounds like the word for “fortune.”
So that’s why Beijing-born Mimi Chen and Hong Kong-born Paul Tsung planned their engagement last year around an 8-8-08 wedding — and that’s what brought them to City Hall for a small ceremony, and then to DUMBO for wedding pictures under the Brooklyn Bridge (bridges are also symbols of good fortune, but you knew that).
“Aug. 8, 2008 has a triple-8, which is very lucky for Chinese people,” said Chen.
“It means prosperity, richness — ” Paul said, already finishing his spouse’s sentences.
Nearly 50 couples got married on Aug. 8, up from about 30 on a typical day, said Steven Castro, a clerk at Brooklyn’s marriage bureau in the Municipal Building Downtown.
“Fridays are busy anyway, but for some reason today is crazy,” Castro said. “And there’s still a lot of people waiting.”
The day is also lucky for births. Maimonides Medical Center delivered several Chinese babies, with parents hoping that their 8-8-08 offspring “have a smooth and lucky life,” explained the hospital’s Asian outreach director Janice Yang.
One new mother, Mei Ling Lin, gave birth to Miu Ying, a girl. “Ying,” in Chinese, means “welcome.”
“For me, today is two luck things — one, it’s 8-8-08, and second, it’s the day of the Olympics in Beijing,” she said through a translator.
“‘Ying’ [Welcome] — it’s a good name, it’s welcoming the newborn for the day of the Olympics,” Yang said.
In Beijing alone, 17,000 couples reportedly got married last Friday.
©2008 The Brooklyn Paper
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