"We are very excited that our baby was born today, on the opening ceremony of the Olympics," said new father Wei Jixun, cradling his four-hour-old daughter in his arms as his wife Zhao Wei slept, recovering after a caesarean section.
"She had been expected to arrive on August 4, but we delayed for a few days so she could be born today."
Dr Zhang Yunping, director of the Maternal and Child Hygiene Hospital of the Haidan District in Beijing, said his hospital delivered 30 babies between midnight and 1.00pm, of which 20 were by caesarean sections, a fairly typical ratio in China.
But he said his hospital refused some parents seeking to take nature in their own hands and schedule c-sections for August 8.
"We turned away quite a number of parents," said Zhang whose hospital delivers an average of 50 babies a day.
"People want their babies to arrive today because it is such an auspicious date and also the opening of the Olympics, an event the Chinese people have waited for for 100 years."
Eight is a lucky number in China because it sounds like the word "prosper" or "wealth" in Chinese.
The Ministry of Public Security has released figures showing some patriotic parents have named children after the Olympics.
Chinese Web site www.id5.com, which specialises in Chinese identity number searches, published data showing about 3,500 children had been named Aoyun, meaning Olympics.
Nearly 5,000 babies were named after the five Olympic mascots, the good-luck dolls called Jingjing, Huanhuan, Beibei, Yingying and Nini.
Zhang said Chinese parents did not name their babies in hospital but traditionally waited until they arrived home as that would bring them good luck.
"But I think it is highly likely that parents will name their babies related to the Olympic Games," he said.