Every year on November 11th, millions of people in China and other parts of the world celebrate Singles Day.
This anti-Valentines Day celebration invented by young Chinese singletons has gone on to become the largest shopping day in the world, already topping Black Friday.
Photo via Colive
What is Singles Day?
Singles Day is an unofficial holiday that is primarily celebrated in China, it was created in 1993 as an antidote to Valentines Day, giving young Chinese singletons the chance to celebrate at events across the country and meet one another.
According to Yahoo! News, major retailers then quickly caught on to the fact that they could target young consumers by offering discounts across their stores and online.
The celebration always takes place on November 11th, a date which was chosen because of the sequence of 1s, which represent single people.
How did it start?
Thought to have originated at Nanjing University in 1993, Singles Day was initially only celebrated by male students.
But the day soon became popular among young and single Chinese people, who saw it as an opportunity to meet other singletons and began organising events and meet-ups to mark the event.
How interesting! Are you celebrating singles day this year with a huge shopping spree?
By: Aishah Akashah Ahadiat
