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Singles' Day

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Singles' Day
An illustration for the Chinese e-commerce holiday Singles' Day
Observed byChinese
TypeInternational
SignificanceDay for singles to celebrate and socialize
CelebrationsShopping, festivals, clubs/bar
DateNovember 11th
Next time11 November 2024 (2024-11-11)
FrequencyAnnual
Related toBachelor's Day, One's Day

Singles' Day or Guanggun Jie (Chinese: 光棍节; pinyin: Guānggùn Jié; Wade–Giles: Kuang-kun chieh; lit. 'bare sticks holiday') is an entertaining festival widespread among young Chinese people,[1] to celebrate the fact that they are proud of being single. The date, November 11th (11/11), is chosen because the number "1" resembles an individual that is alone. This festival has become the largest online shopping day in the world,[2] with sales in Alibaba's sites Tmall and Taobao at US$5.8 billion in 2013, US$9.3 billion in 2014, US$14.3 billion in 2015 and over US$17.8 billion in 2016.[3][4][5]

Origins

Singles' Day or Bachelors' Day, which originated from Nanjing University in 1993, was initially celebrated at various universities in Nanjing during the 1990s.[6] It got the name "Singles' Day" because the date consists of four "one"s. Upon graduating, these college students carried the university tradition into society. Singles' Day has been largely popularized in the internet era and is now observed by youth in several regions outside China as well.

Singles' Day serves as an occasion for single people to party with single friends. The holiday was initially only celebrated by young men, hence the name, "Bachelors' Day", but is now widely celebrated by all genders.[citation needed] 'Blind date' parties are also popular during this day in an attempt to bid goodbye to their single lives. Some schools of a university put forward a special program to gather singles together for celebration. Singles may take on a bemoaning or self-deprecating attitude for remaining single as a university student, but this has helped curb that negativity.[citation needed]

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 level.[7] Shopping promotions were highlighted throughout China and activities were widespread. Although this date is meant to celebrate singlehood, the desire to find a spouse or mate is often expressed by young Chinese on this date, while other love-related issues are discussed by the Chinese media.

Guess #1: Nanjing University's dorm culture. This is the most acceptable guessing for the origin of Single's Day. In 1993 at a dorm called "Mingcaowuzhu (All single men)" at Nanjing University, the four students talked about how to find a girlfriend every night before sleeping for a long time. During their little talks, they came up with the idea of organizing some activities on the upcoming November 11. Since then, those activities organized on November 11 were widely spread to many universities in Nanjing even in many other cities. With these students graduating from universities, this university culture was brought to the whole society, and because of the large amount of single people and social media's strong power, this day has become more and more popular in the Chinese society.

Guess #2: A love story. A young man whose name was Mu Guang Kun, was born on November 11, 1970. Because of his special name in Chinese, he had been called "Guang Gun" since primary school. During his second year at Nanjing University, he began a romantic relationship with a girl. However, the girl was diagnosed cancer and died later on. The young man went to the top floor, fluting with some candles on on the night of the girl's death. He seemed to become another person after that night. On his birthday during his senior year, his roommates also went to the top floor with him again to keep him company. Afterwards, this sad story became well known in Nanjing University and his birthday was then set up to be "Guang Gun Festival".

Symbolism

The following symbolism has been associated with the special date:

  • "1": The figure of "1" symbolizes an individual, a single person
  • 2x"1": Two individuals, finding each other, and being together on one side of the special date (11.11)
  • 2x(2x"1"): A celebration of 2 (and more) different and separate couples, each comprising two single individuals finding each other on the special date (11.11)

Celebration

In 2011, an above-average number of marital celebrations occurred in Hong Kong and Beijing on November 11.[8] 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 join in the celebration of this holiday, it has become a great opportunity for companies targeting younger consumers, including restaurants, Karaoke, and online shopping malls. For example, the Chinese online shopping mall Taobao sold 19 billion CNY (about 3 billion USD) of goods on November 11, 2012. [9] In November 2016, the e-commerce giant Alibaba has set its Singles Day record and generated 120.7 billion CNY (17.79 billion USD) in gross merchandise.[10]

Trademarks

The term "双十一" (meaning "Double 11") was trademarked in China by Alibaba Group on December 28, 2012, under registration numbers 10136470 and 10136420. In Oct 2014, Alibaba threatened legal action against media outlets that accept advertising from competitors that use this term.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ CNN China China's biggest problem? Too many men, November 2012
  2. ^ C. Custer (October 14, 2014). "Tmall CEO: this year, Alibaba plans to take Singles Day global". Tech in Asia. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  3. ^ Steven Millward (November 12, 2014). "New record for world's biggest shopping day as Alibaba's shoppers spend $9.3 billion in 24 hours". Tech in Asia. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  4. ^ Reuters (November 11, 2015). "Alibaba's Singles' Day sales hit $14.32 billion". Reuters. Retrieved November 11, 2014. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602850/big-data-game-changer-alibabas-double-11-event-raises-the-bar-for-online-sales/?utm_campaign=internal&utm_medium=readnext&utm_source=item_2
  6. ^ "How China's Singles' Day Holiday Sold Out". Times. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  7. ^ A holiday invasion – Why are Chinese enthusiastically adopting new festive events? Thinking Chinese, November 2011
  8. ^ Wall Street Journal (2011). Chinese Couples Rush to the Altar on 11/11/11. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  9. ^ VB business, online mall Taobao reports $3B in sales in one day, Nov. 2012
  10. ^ Wanxia, Lin (November 11, 2016). "Alibaba's Singles Day smashes sales record in 15 hours". www.atimes.com. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  11. ^ Eric Johnson (November 6, 2014). "The Chinese government has essentially given Alibaba the 'Double 11' market". InvestorPlace. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  12. ^ timeanddate.com. "11/11/11 – a date with a special meaning?". Retrieved November 11, 2016.
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