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No divorce during China holiday

Couples in China's biggest provincial municipality will not be allowed to divorce during celebrations of 60 years of communist rule.

But weddings will go ahead in Chongqing during the eight-day holiday beginning on Thursday, according to China Daily.

Officers at marriage registration centres said they could not cope with the high demand for weddings and also issue divorces.

Seven out of 10 districts told the newspaper they would not process them.

"We will be working voluntarily during the holiday to issue marriage certificates but we will not be making any divorce appointments," officer Wang, who is in charge of the Marriage and Adoption Registration Centre in Yuzhong district in central Chongqing city, told the China Daily...

... China considers the anniversary celebrations one of the highlights of the year - a chance to trumpet the achievements of the last 60 years of communist rule.

The focus of the celebrations will be a military parade through Tiananmen Square and central Beijing. President Hu Jintao will also make a keynote speech.

As with last year's Olympic Games, the government wants to ensure nothing disrupts or distracts from the carefully planned celebrations.
Read entire article at BBC