RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
| Subject: China offers couples novel solution to the 7-year itch Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:19 am | |
| Postal authorities in the Chinese capital Beijing have come up with a novel solution to a soaring divorce rate - love letters sent with a seven-year delay.
The new service allows couples in the first flush of romance to post a letter their partner will only receive seven years later, the China Daily reported on Tuesday, saying that was when relationships often began to cool.
Divorce is becoming increasingly common in China. In Beijing, the divorce rate has risen from 11,582 in 2004 to 21,013 last year, according to government data. Special envelopes containing a card for a personalised message went on sale in Beijing on September 9 - considered auspicious because the words 'nine nine' in Chinese sound similar to the word 'forever'.
Couples who marry in one of the capital's 17 registration offices will also receive one of the envelopes. 'We hope the love letters may save some marriages in the future,' a postal official surnamed Ma told the Global Times daily.
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_712421.html |
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