Singles Day: In the name of love

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Chen (right) and her girlfriends spend her last night before marriage in a hotel suite in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2013. Her wedding would be held in the hotel the next day. Chen and her fiancé at first wanted to fix the wedding date on Nov. 11, the Singles Day. However they had to reschedule the wedding to Nov.10 because it is weekend. A lot of young men choose the date to get married to end the single life. (China Youth Daily/Zheng Pingping)

Nov. 11 is an amazing day in China. The day was affectionately named by the Chinese as "Singles Day". It is neither a legal holiday, nor a traditional Chinese festival, and not even a foreign festival such as Christmas and the Valentine's Day. However, on the day, thousands of temporary workers were hired by the logistical company; e-commerce sites launched biggest promotions; insurance companies created new insurance for love; some estate companies even put the controversial advertisement: "get a bride if buying a house."

Eventually the "Singles Day", like many other festivals in China, becomes "shopping day".

• Bogus boyfriends for rent to please parents
• Singles Day promotions kindle China's spending power
• 'Singles Day' has shoppers ready to spend big
• Singles Day ignites online retail frenzy
• Price war in e-commerce industry unavoidable: experts

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