很多年前聽過一首歌《沒有情人的情人節》，孟庭葦恬靜、憂傷的嗓音傾盡了單身的悲戚和落寞。十余年滑過，忽然發現，身邊的“單身貴族”似乎有增無減，而且，單身不再是傷感的代名詞，它代表著時尚、自由和神秘。2006年11月11日的“光棍節”，單身的你要不要也來湊個熱鬧？注意嘍，這可是中國民間的獨創，起源于我們最為熟悉的大學校園。“光棍節”怎么過？大家伙各有自己的獨到之樂，文中的“風俗”，如在這一天吃四根油條、媒人牽約或佳人喜結連理，只能是“據資料記載”。若您能對“資料記載”有所超越、有所創新，可以告訴我們，大家一起分享。 溫馨提示：11月11日“光棍節”

"Singles Day" falls on every November 11th and is celebrated only in China. It is a festival exclusively for singles. To find out more about this festival, read on.

"Singles Day" falls on every November 11th, and as the name indicates, this relatively new holiday is one exclusively for people who are still living the single life. I was a bit surprised when I googled 'Singles Day' on the Internet, to find that 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. 

 Origin of Singles Day

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 playedMahjong.

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 (the card shows four independent, parallel columns in two lines). Even more of a coincidence, it was Nov 11, or 11/11. In order to commemorate the day, they nicknamed it "Singles Day".

  University culture

"Singles Day" was first celebrated at various universities in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province during the 1990s. It got the name "Singles Day" because the date is comprised of four "ones". These college students have since graduated, and carried their university tradition into society. Singles Day is now a special day for all fashionable youths.

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.

 Creative celebration

For breakfast on "Singles Day", singles often eat four youtiao (deep-fried dough sticks) representing the four "ones" in "11.11" and one baozi (steamed stuffed buns) representing the middle dot.

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.

（China Daily） 

Vocabulary:

Singles Day: 光棍節 blind date: 不相識的男女第一次約會 （英語點津陳蓓編輯）