Singles Day in its origin is a Chinese festival which is celebrated on 11 November. The idea started at the University of Nanjing in 1993, and began as a fun day for students. The date was chosen to go with the idea of ‘one’ as the date 11/11 is actually four ones if you look at it. In the original Mandarin the name of the festival, which can be written as Kuang-kun chieh using the Roman alphabet, translates into English roughly as ‘bare sticks day’ – which again reminds you of the shape of the numbers in 11/11, but could also have a connotation of being a single person who hasn’t produced ‘fruit’ ie started a family.
The first students who celebrated this day, who were all young men at that time, were enjoying their bachelor freedom, and many single people still celebrate it in the same spirit. For some, in fact, it is like a joky protest against romantic festivals of the Valentine’s Day type – a way of saying ‘I’m happy not to have a partner, I enjoy my freedom’. However, as the day has grown in popularity, it has become more common for young people to use it as a way of meeting potential partners. Some universities even organise a special party to bring all the young single people together.
Singles Day often begins with a special breakfast, of long thin fried dough sticks (the idea is that they look like the four ‘ones’ of the day’s date) and a round stuffed bun which is supposed to indicate the dot between the two ‘11’ figures. Later in the day it is common to buy special gifts for loved ones or potential loved ones, and then perhaps to attend a singles party or go on a special date, such as a romantic meal. In fact, for some young people Singles Day is more and more being treated as a romantic celebration for couples as well as for single people.
It is also a huge commercial opportunity. This year it was estimated that Chinese consumers spent almost $6 billion on this day alone, and these are just figures for online shopping. For the shopping malls it is also one of their busiest days of the year, as well as for restaurants and entertainment centres. One of the biggest sellers is cards for single people – you can get ones to send to your friends congratulating them on their single state (or offering sympathy for it) or more romantic ones similar to Valentine’s Day cards.
It has not yet become a celebration in other countries, but a lot of retailers are hoping that it may catch on. Chinese people living abroad may buy special gifts online, but it is also possible that high street shops and malls in other countries could start stocking Singles Day goods if the event becomes better known internationally. On a recent episode of the Apprentice, one team came up with the idea of promoting Singles Day greeting cards in the UK, but at that time they didn’t manage to convince retailers that the idea would catch on. However, since then a number of retailers outside China have begun to take an interest in the possibilities of Singles Day, so we could start to see a high street presence for the idea next year. Greeting cards are the most likely thing to start selling, to see if there is enough interest. With so many young single people looking to find a partner around the world, there is a good chance that it may become an international event.