Marriages surge on Qixi

A total of 1,187 couples tied the knot in Shanghai on Friday, which marked Qixi Festival — also known as “Chinese Valentine’s Day” — according to the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.

The figure was about three times the daily average, authorities said.

Qixi is the seventh day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar.

Marriage registration centers in the Pudong New Area received the most couples — about 200 — followed by those in Minhang and Xuhui districts, according to the bureau.

Many Chinese couples pick auspicious dates to say “I do.”

On another auspicious date, October 10, 2010, local authorities registered marriages of 10,150 couples, a record high at the time.

In Chinese tradition, the number 10-10-10 symbolizes perfection.

Also on Friday, 77 couples divorced in Shanghai.