11.11既是光棍節(jié)也是結婚日

 
 
November 11, a day represented by four digits of 1, has been dubbed "Singles Day" by young single Chinese. China is the only country in the world that has set aside a special day for singles to celebrate their lives. To find out more about this celebration, read on.
11月11日，因其由四個阿拉伯數字“1”構成，于是便被中國的年輕單身族稱為“光棍節(jié)”。中國是世界上唯一一個專門為光棍們設立節(jié)日的國家。接下來讓我們更深入地來了解一下這個節(jié)日吧。

Among Chinese in the 22 to 49 age bracket, males outnumber females by 16.97 million, which means tens of millions of single Chinese in this age group.
在22歲至49歲這個年齡段中，中國男性的人數比女性多出了1697萬人，這就意味著這個年齡段里會有上千萬的光棍出現。

When explaining the reasons for being single 40 percent interviewees believe growing self-consciousness among the young has raised the bar for selecting the other half. 20 percent netizens believe it is because social environment has become more tolerant and being single is facing less pressure of public opinion.
當問起光棍增多的原因，40％的受訪者表示年輕人對自身感受的重視增加了尋找另一半的難度。而20％的網民則認為寬松的社會環(huán)境和公眾壓力的減少導致了光棍的增多。

Origin of Singles Day 節(jié)日起源
 
An old story goes that once there were four single men, leading very boring lives. None of them were married, or had lovers, or did anything exciting. They just sat around all day and played Mahjong.
故事從四個過著單調生活的單身漢說起。他們沒有人結婚，連女朋友都沒有，日子過得無精打采，終日用麻將打發(fā)日子。

One day they played Mahjong from 11 in the morning until 11 at night. During the game, no matter who won, the winning card was always the "four columns" card. Even more of a coincidence, it was Nov 11, or 11/11. In order to commemorate the day, they nicknamed it Singles Day.
有一天他們打麻將從早上11點打到了晚上11點。牌局中，不管誰贏，都贏在了“四條”上。更加巧合的是，這一天正好是11月11號。為了紀念這一天，他們給它命名為“光棍節(jié)”。

University culture 大學文化
Singles Day was first celebrated at various universities in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province during the 1990s. These college students have since graduated, and carried their university tradition into society. Singles Day is now a special day for all fashionable youths.
光棍節(jié)最先在90年代的江蘇南京各大高校興起。大學生們畢業(yè)了，把這個傳統帶到了社會上，光棍節(jié)就成了時尚青年們的一個特殊節(jié)日。

The main way to celebrate Singles Day is to have dinner with your single friends, but it"s important that each person pay their own way to show their independence. People also hold "blind date" parties in an attempt to bid goodbye to their single lives.
主流的慶祝方式就是和光棍朋友們一起搓一頓，而且一定要實行AA制。為了脫離單身，人們也會舉辦相親會，介紹單身男女相互認識。

Creative celebration 新奇慶祝
 
For breakfast on Singles Day, singles often eat four youtiao representing the four "ones" in "11.11" and one baozi representing the middle dot.
光棍節(jié)的早上，單身青年們會吃四根油條，代表11.11的四個“1”，然后再吃一個包子，代表11和11之間的那個點。

Many singles also choose to say goodbye to their single lives on this day. Many attend "blind date" parties and many people choose to marry on this day. In addition to meaning "single" the four "ones" of the date can also mean "only one" as in "the only one for me". Some people will use this date and this meaning to tell their special someone that they are the only "one" in their heart.
很多單身朋友選擇在這一天告別單身。一些人參加相親會，還有許多人選擇在這天結婚。四個“1”不僅可以代表單身，還可以代表“唯一”，即”你是我的唯一“。所以一些人會選擇這天作為愛情告白日，向“心中的唯一”表明心跡。