Dai said they chose the day even though both of their parents thought it was a little bit late. The lovers have known each other since March 2013.

Chen Chao and Wan Shanshan, both 30, held a wedding ceremony in October but didn't register.

"We decided to wait for the special date to do the registration," Chen said.

Deng Li, 26, and his wife, Meng Qian, 25, have been in love for four years. "We had considered getting married on Jan 4, 2013, but conditions were not ripe at that time. It's the same to do the registration on Jan 3, 2014," Deng said.

Both dates are good, he added.

In addition to those dates, Jan 1, 2014, was also considered by many as a lucky date to register for marriage because it marks the transition from 2013 to 2014, which, similar to the other dates, sounds like "a lifetime" in Chinese. It translates to "an appointment for a lifetime".

On Jan 1 in Shanghai, 1,330 couples got married, up from 800 couples on the same day in 2013.

While many registered for marriage on the phonetically pleasing dates, officials said they hope the number-mania will cool down.

"Every day is a good day," said Wang, the Shanghai official, adding that it is not advisable to get married on a day simply because it sounds romantic or auspicious.

Wen Yanmei, an official from the Guangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau, said the media should be careful to not mislead young people into getting married just because of lucky harmonics.

"We don't encourage impulsive marriages," Wen said.

Last year, three of the nearly 7,300 couples in Shanghai who got married on Jan 4, 2013, divorced within two weeks after the magical "love you for a lifetime" date, according to Shanghai-based Youth Daily. One of the couples went back to the government office for a divorce after only four days.