Han Ximin ximhan@126.com NEARLY 2,300 couples tied the knot at marriage registration centers across the city Friday, in celebration of Valentine’s Day and the lunar Lantern Festival, which is known as Chinese Valentine’s Day. About 550 couples received marriage certificates in Nanshan District alone. “As online reservations were fully booked, we started giving queue numbers at 6 a.m and printed the first marriage certificates at 7:15 a.m.,” said Xie Ying, head of the Luohu Marriage Registration Office. A young couple in Nanshan District got in line at 8 p.m. Thursday night and were the first to register Friday morning, Nanshan marriage employee Deng Zhaohong said. Friday’s alignment of two holidays happens only once every 19 years. “I got number 101 and felt lucky to get my registration today,” said a man surnamed Wan, who arrived at the Futian District center at 7 a.m. Friday. Chen Yue, head of the Futian registration center, said other offices in the building were affected by the crowds. “Even though we prepared for the rush by adding more staff and extending service hours, the long queues outside the registration center drew complaints from nearby offices,” Chen said. The Futian center completed registrations for 450 couples Friday. Bao’an District’s registration center even held a mass wedding, for 18 couples. Separately, a grand folk dance parade was held in Futian’s Lianhua Hill Park on Saturday to celebrate the Lantern Festival. More than 1,000 people, mostly from communities in Lianhua Subdistrict, performed folk dances, sang Hakka songs and showed other talents and skills. More than 220 people, including 19 couples, celebrated Valentine’s Day by donating blood at Shenzhen Blood Center, which has faced shortages due to cold weather. “We want to celebrate our Valentine’s Day in our own way,” said resident Li Tiebei, who has often donated blood with his wife, Tang Yinhui, but said Friday was the first time they donated blood to celebrate Valentine’s Day. | 