Young Chinese Professionals Celebrate the Single Life by Spending a Collective $5.4

Young Chinese Professionals Celebrate the Single Life by Spending a Collective $5.4 Billion in One Day

A Chinese holiday to celebrate being single has turned into one of the world’s largest online shopping events.

What?

[On November 11th], millions of unattached Chinese took advantage of online shopping specials tailored for them — travel deals for lone travelers, single-serving rice cookers, boyfriend pillows, and deals on BMWs (helpful for shedding one’s single status).

Why not make a bunch of rice and just eat leftovers? No? Okay! Buy that tiny rice cooker.

Sales passed that of America’s after-Thanksgiving day of shopping deals, Cyber Monday, and reached $5.4 billion by 11pm.

That is almost as much as the GDP of Monaco. What is the big deal, guys?

The day, always on 11/11 — the single digits symbolize the “bare branches” of being an unwed Chinese — also reflects a real demographic challenge facing the country. There are between 50 to 60 million bachelors in China who may never find a life partner because of China’s large gender imbalance.

What to do about the situation other than shop?

Eligible Chinese, as well as their concerned relatives, attended matchmaking events or participated in online campaigns like “Help your roommate find someone,” in which over 200,000 posted photos of themselves or their single roommates.

Here is a man at one such matchmaking event, whose face reflects the sort of torturous confusion that might result from a holiday in which you celebrate something while also trying to eradicate it as quickly as possible. [Quartz]