Single’s Day

11 November marks Single’s Day. Referred to as Guanggun jie 光棍节 (Bachelor Festival or Bare Branch Festival) or Shuang shiyi 双十一 (Double Eleven), this day has become the biggest shopping event in the world.

According to popular belief, Single’s Day originated from Nanjing University in 1993. Male students supposedly started the festival to celebrate their lives as bachelors and the date was chosen as 11.11 resemble four bare branches. The festival eventually spread through the country and came to include single men and women.

Today, Single’s Day is the largest shopping event in the world. In 2009, the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba began to use the festival to promote discounts on its online shopping platforms. On 11 November 2017, Alibaba sales hit a new record of 168.2 billion yuan during the 24-hour period which makes other large shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday pale in comparison. Alibaba held a “countdown gala” on 10 November to kick off the shopping festival with many international stars attending and performing.

In addition to shopping, Single’s Day offers many other activities. A great number of restaurants, bars, clubs, karaoke venues, and so on offer special discounts too. While some use the day to celebrate their single lives, others attend matchmaking events such as speed dating, singles parties, and matchmaking fairs to find a potential partner.

Today, Single’s Day has made its entrance internationally as retailers outside China have begun to realise its potential.