Singles Day in China

The word "guanggun", which translates as "bare branches", is used in the Middle Kingdom to describe single men. As a result of the implementation of the state policy of “One family - one child” since 1979, an imbalance in the sex ratio has occurred in China. By 2020, more than 24 million men in the country aged 25 to 40 could not find a partner and start a family. This happened due to the termination of pregnancy by women against the background of the adopted law, the high mortality rate of girls in infancy due to insufficiently good medical care compared to boys. In patriarchal China, a man has more social privileges, is an heir, a supporter both for his family and for his elderly parents. Therefore, millions of women terminated their pregnancies when they learned that they were having a daughter. The initiator and ideologist of birth control in the Middle Kingdom is John D. Rockefeller, who personally met with the founder and head of the PRC in the late 1970s. The American billionaire said: “Whatever the price paid by China, the social experiment led by Mao Zedong is one of the most important and successful social experiments in history.” As life has shown, everything happened exactly the opposite. The shortage of potential brides on the marriage market is not the only consequence of birth control policies. Infringement of women in the exercise of their reproductive rights has led to a reduction in the working-age population, and an increase in the standard of living has led to an increase in life expectancy among older people and a burden on the pension system. The experiment, which was promoted by Rockefeller, US President Nixon and American politician Brzezinski, failed and caused great damage to society and the country's economy. In 2015, the demographic policy was canceled, which did not solve the problems of single young people and middle-aged men. Today in the PRC there are special cafes and restaurants, small kitchen utensils are sold, and tourism programs have been prepared for traveling alone. November 11th is Singles' Day in China. The idea of ​​celebrating Singles Day originated with students at Nanjing University in the 1990s and quickly spread throughout the country. Residents of the Middle Kingdom believe in numerology, in which the numbers “6”, “8” and “9” are favorable and bring happiness. One means the beginning of the countdown, the start and at the same time - loneliness. Therefore, Singles' Day, which appeared in China in 1993, was decided to be celebrated on the 11th day of the 11th month. Two units in a row symbolize the unity of hearts and destinies. Ironically, the date for celebrating Singles' Day has become a favorite among newlyweds who are planning wedding celebrations on November 11th. 11.11 also attracted the attention of Chinese marketers, who decided to use mirror numbers for commercial purposes. It has been found that in China, more than 40% of single consumers, including bachelors, spend money on their own pleasure. Therefore, November 11 has also become a shopping day - a large-scale event aimed at increasing sales. This happened in 2009 at the initiative of the Alibaba Internet platform. The company is the initiator of sales and a gala concert with the participation of world pop stars on November 11th. At one of the shows, Alibaba founder Jack Ma appeared on stage dressed as a courier delivering shopping packages. The shopping day was designed for a wide audience, not just bachelors. The holiday was created to promote sales among millennials - young people born in the 1980s. By that time, a generation of people brought up on a consumer culture had grown up in the PRC, which had firmly established itself on capitalist lines. By 2017, Chinese spending on Singles' Day exceeded $25 billion. 3 years later, Alibaba was joined by the Taobao and AliExpress platforms with 5 million sellers, and the number of buyers amounted to 800 million people. The holiday has grown from a one-day event into a week of sales that begins on November 11 and ends at midnight on the 16th. Today, shopping in honor of 11.11 takes place in China, Indonesia, other Asian countries, Europe, Russia and the USA.