Who is consuming singles' 'Singles' Day'?

"Have you bought enough online?" This has become one of the most frequently asked questions on Sina Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, over the past few days.

Alibaba's Taobao.com and Tmall.com cashed in 5.9 billion yuan and 13.2 billion yuan, respectively, on Singles' Day on Nov. 11, which added up to 19.1 billion yuan, up 260 percent from a year earlier, the company announced on early Monday. Alipay, Alibaba's online payment platform, handled more than 100 million transactions on Nov. 11, and up to 205,000 transactions a minute at its peak.

Singles' Day, which is neither a traditional Chinese nor foreign holiday, is becoming increasingly popular in China. Many people said that this holiday was celebrated at first by Chinese college students in the 1990s. It is observed on Nov. 11 because the date consists of four "ones." It has evolved into a pop culture holiday in China in recent years.

Sociologists are busy finding out why this holiday is so popular, and some of them have attributed the holiday's popularity to the Chinese people's desire for love and friendship.

Cultural experts are studying the value embodiment behind the popularity of Singles' Day as they believe every holiday represents a kind of culture. Unusually, economists are keeping silent, and few of them have explained why Singles' Day has become an e-commerce bonanza.

In fact, online merchants have replaced singles as the main characters of Singles' Day since the Singles' Day of the Century on Nov. 11, 2011. After the holiday, merchants are happy with the surge in sales, and singles are also happy that they have bought many bargains. However, some singles are not sure whether they have really bought bargains or jumped into merchants' traps.

People like to use holidays to enliven boring days, but their celebration is always so monotonous. From Saint Valentine's Day to Singles' Day to Christmas, it seems that people cannot find any ways to celebrate theses holidays except shopping for bargains.

Those who have spent much shopping online on Singles' Day may have bought many things, not because they really want them, but because others have bought them.

People went on a shopping binge on the first Singles' Day after the Singles' Day of the Century. They have every right to spend their own money however they please, but one worrying question arises: Can the singles who cannot control their spending impulse take good care of their own lives?

Source:China Youth Daily, author: Chen Fang.

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