Singles Day
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| Singles' Day | |
|---|---|
| Observed by | Chinese |
| Type | International |
| Significance | Day for singles to celebrate and socialize |
| Date | November 11 |
| Celebrations | eat youtiao, festivals, clubs/bar |
| Related to | Qi Xi, Valentine's Day |
Singles' Day,or One's Day or Guanggun Jie (Chinese: 光棍节; pinyin: Guānggùn Jié; Wade–Giles: Kuang-kun chieh; literally "bare sticks holiday") is a pop culture entertaining holiday on November 11 for young Chinese to celebrate their bachelor life. With the meaning of single or bachelor of number '1' and the huge population of young single man.[1] This holiday became very popular among young Chinese people. In this day，young bachelors organize parties and Karaoke to meet new friends or try their fortunes.
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Origins [edit]
University culture [edit]
This Singles' Day or Bachelors` day was initially celebrated at various universities in Nanjing during the 1990s, and originated from Nanjing University in 1993. It got the name Singles Day because the date consists of four "ones". These college students have since graduated, and carried the university tradition into society. The Singles Day has been largely popularized in the internet era and is now a special day for all fashionable youths.
At first, Singles' Day is to party with your single friends. As it also called bachelor day, this holiday was firstly only celebrated by young men. 'Blind date' parties are also popular during this day in an attempt to bid goodbye to their single lives. Singles may take on a bemoaning or self-deprecating attitude for remaining single as a university student. Some schools of a university would put forward a special program to gather singles together for celebration.
2011 marked the "Singles Day of the Century" (Shiji Guanggun Jie), this date having six "ones" rather than four, an excuse to take celebrations to a higher notch.[2] Shopping promotions were highlighted throughout China and activities were widespread. Although this date comes to celebrate singlehood, the desire to find a spouse or mate is also expressed by young Chinese on this date, and other love-related issues are discussed by the Chinese media.
Celebration [edit]
For breakfast on Singles' Day, singles often eat four Youtiao (deep-fried dough sticks) representing the four "ones" in "11.11" and one Baozi (steamed stuffed bun) representing the middle dot.
In 2011, higher numbers in marital celebrations occurred in Hong Kong and Beijing on November 11 than the average daily amount.[3]
In addition to meaning 'single,' the four 'ones' of the date can also mean 'only one' as in 'the only one for me.' Some people will use this date and this meaning to tell their special someone that they are the only 'one' in their heart.
As more people are join in the celebration of this holiday nowadays. This young holiday has become a great opportunity for companies focusing younger consumers, restaurants, Karaoke, or low-price online shopping malls. As a Successful example, a Chinese online shopping mall called Taobao sold 19 billions CNY(about 3 billion dollar) of their goods in Nov. 11, 2012 [4]
In episode 6 of The Apprentice (UK Series Four), team Alpha decided to make a range of themed greeting cards revolving around National Singles' Day,[5] which met mixed success from buyers Clinton Cards, Celebrations and Tesco. Initially, the team planned to have it on February 13, the day before Valentine's Day. However, Clinton Cards and Tesco questioned their decision as to why celebrate it before Valentine's Day considering it's one of the card's major seasons like Christmas and have the day competed with Valentine's Day. Tesco also pointed out who would send cards to single people.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ CNN China China's biggest problem? Too many men, November 2012
- ^ A holiday invasion – Why are Chinese enthusiastically adopting new festive events? Thinking Chinese, November 2011
- ^ Wall Street Journal (2011). Chinese Couples Rush to the Altar on 11/11/11. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- ^ VB business,online mall Taobao reports $3B in sales in one day, Nov. 2012
- ^ Episode 6 Synopsis at BBC Apprentice Microsite
