Singles Day in China

Singles' Day or Guanggun Jie (in simplified Chinese, 光棍节; pinyin, Guānggùn Jié) is a holiday commemorated in China to celebrate the pride of being single. It is celebrated on November 11 each year, and the date (11/11) was chosen because of the fact that the number one represents a single person. Recently, the holiday has become one of the top online trading days in the world.

The holiday originated at Nanjing University in 1993, initially only among men, and became a popular event in Chinese universities during the 1990s. The date serves for socializing among singles, featuring events such as blind dates for people to abandon the single life. In 2011, the so-called "Singles of the Century Day" (11/11/11) was celebrated with various promotional activities in connection with the event, mainly aimed at attracting young consumers.