520

What does 520 mean?

520 is what love sounds like in numbers. The sequence echoes the syllables of 我爱你, so it went from a QQ-era confession code to a full-blown occasion: every May 20, couples queue at registration offices, and payments of 520 yuan carry more weight than any card. The receiving end usually answers with 521, which reads along the same lines. Outside romance the number also shows up in prices and timestamps as a small, private wink.

Where does 520 come from?

Chinese number homophones are an old habit, and 520 stands in for 我爱你 because the digits match the sounds. Chat rooms and pagers in the late 1990s spread the code, and by the 2010s May 20 had turned into 网络情人节, an internet Valentine's Day with queues at marriage offices and shops pushing 520-themed gifts. On May 20, 2020, WeChat briefly raised its daily red packet cap from 200 to 520 yuan for the occasion, a move covered by mainstream media at the time.

How to use 520

• 五月二十号凌晨，他掐着点给对象转了520，备注写着“收下就是答应”。
  Wǔyuè èrshí hào língchén, tā qiāzhe diǎn gěi duìxiàng zhuǎnle 520, bèizhù xiězhe “shōu xià jiù shì dāying”.
  Just after midnight on May 20 he timed a transfer of 520 yuan to his partner, with the note that accepting it meant saying yes.
• 民政局门口五二零那天排起长队，不少人举着“520我们领证了”的牌子拍照。
  Mínzhèngjú ménkǒu wǔ èr líng nà tiān pái qǐ cháng duì, bùshǎo rén jǔzhe “520 wǒmen lǐngzhèng le” de páizi pāizhào.
  On May 20 the line outside the marriage registration office stretched down the street, and couples posed with signs reading 520, we got our certificate.