Singles Day falls on every November 11th, and as the name indicates, this relatively¹ new holiday is one exclusively for people who are still living the single life. I was a bit surprised when I googled 'Singles Day' on the Internet, to find that China is the only country in the world that has set aside a special day for singles to celebrate their lives. To find out more about this celebration, read on.

每年的11月11日是“光棍节”。节如其名，这个新鲜的节日是专门为那些还过着单身生活的人们设立的。我在GOOGLE上搜索一下，惊讶地发现中国是世界上唯一一个专门为光棍们设立节日的国家。来一起了解一下这个节日吧~

Origin of Singles Day 节日起源

Betting 打牌

An old story goes that once there were four single men, leading very boring lives. None of them were married, or had lovers, or did anything exciting. They just sat around all day and played Mahjong.

故事从四个过着单调生活的单身汉说起。他们没有人结婚，连女朋友都没有，日子过得无精打采，终日打麻将度过。

One day they played Mahjong from 11 in the morning until 11 at night. During the game, no matter who won, the winning card was always the 'four columns' card (the card shows four independent, parallel columns in two lines). Even more of a coincidence, it was Nov 11, or 11/11. In order to commemorate² the day, they nicknamed it Singles Day.

有一天他们打麻将从早上11点打到了晚上11点。奇妙的是，不管谁赢，都赢在了“四条”上。更加巧合的是，这一天正是11月11号。为了纪念这一天，他们给它命名为“光棍节”。

University culture 大学传统

Singles Day was first celebrated³ at various universities in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province during the 1990s. It got the name Singles Day because the date is comprised of four "ones". These college students have since graduated, and carried their university tradition into society. Singles Day is now a special day for all fashionable youths.

光棍节最先在90年代的江苏南京各大高校兴起。之所以叫“光棍节”是因为这一天的日子有四个光棍一样的“1”。大学生们毕业了，把这个传统带到了社会上，光棍节就成了时尚青年们的一个特殊节日。

The main way to celebrate Singles Day is to have dinner with your single friends, but it's important that each person pay their own way to show their independence. People also hold 'blind date' parties in an attempt to bid goodbye to their single lives.

主流的庆祝方式就是和光棍朋友们一起搓一顿，而且一定要实行AA制。为了脱离单身，人们也会举办相亲会，介绍单身男女认识。

Creative celebration 新奇庆祝

For breakfast on Singles Day, singles often eat four youtiao (deep-fried dough⁴ sticks) representing the four "ones" in "11.11" and one baozi (steamed stuffed buns) representing the middle dot.

光棍节的早上，单身青年们会吃四根有条，代表11.11的四个“1”，再吃一个包子，代表11和11之间的那个点。

Many singles also choose to say goodbye to their single lives on this day. Many attend 'blind date' parties and many people choose to marry on this day. 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.

很多单身朋友选择在这一天告别单身，一些人参加相亲会，一些人则在今天结婚。四个“1”不仅可以代表单身，还可以代表“唯一”，这也成了一些人的爱情告白日。