As many as 140 couples got married in Pingtan county on May 20.

Couples waiting to get married crowd an office at the civil bureau in Pingtan county, May 20. [Photo/pingtan.gov.cn]

May 20, 2014, set off a frenzy of marriages across China because the auspicious pronunciation sounds like “I love you forever” in Chinese.

“We expected 70 to 80 marriage applications on that day. But it turned out to be 140,” said Huang Lin, director of the marriage registration office of the local civil bureau.

Lin Minglong said he arrived at the office at 8 am and still had to wait in line for more than an hour.

Chen Wenni said she and her boyfriend met exactly four years ago, and decided to get married on their special anniversary.