Wuhan, the Chinese city at the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic, emerged from its 76-day lockdown period last Wednesday. As the city begins to wake up from its slumber, it seems that couples are eager to celebrate the return to normalcy — by getting married in droves.Alibaba’s Alipay marriage registration app saw a 300% increase in marriage application rates after the lockdown was lifted. According to Alipay’s Weibo microblogging account, it even caused the system to become overloaded and freeze.Related:Love in the Time of Coronavirus: How Quarantine Led to a Divorce Rate Bump in ChinaThe surprising surge comes after marriages in Wuhan were suspended during the months of February and March. Wuhan’s city marriage registration services reopened on April 3rd.The news stands in hopeful contrast to reports of soaring divorce rates in cities like Xi’an, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Guangzhou, where some couples ended up with more one-on-one time than they’d bargained for.In Wuhan, seems that those who quarantine together, stay together.
