Singles ' Day - wikipedia Singles ' Day Singles ' Day An illustration for the Chinese e-commerce holiday Singles ' Day Observed by Chinese Type Commercial Significance Day for singles to celebrate and socialize Celebrations Shopping, festivals, clubs / bar Date November 11th Next time 11 November 2018 ( 2018 - 11 - 11 ) Frequency Annual Singles ' Day or Guanggun Jie ( Chinese : 光棍 节 ; pinyin : Guānggùn Jié ; Wade -- Giles : Kuang - kun chieh ; literally : `` Single Sticks ' Holiday '' ) is an entertainment festival popular among young Chinese people, that celebrates the fact that they are proud of being single. The date, November 11th ( 11 / 11 ), was chosen because the number `` 1 '' resembles an individual who is alone. The event is not an officially recognized public holiday in china although it has become the largest offline and online shopping day in the world. Sales in Alibaba 's sites, Tmall and Taobao, have reached US $5.8 billion in 2013, US $9.3 billion in 2014, US $14.3 billion in 2015, US $17.8 billion in 2016, and over US $25.4 billion in 2017. JD.com also achieved a sales record of US $19.1 billion in 2017, while Lazada drums up US $123 million. In 2017, Alibaba -- the company most closely associated with Singles ' Day -- set a world record for payment transactions during the festival. Its mobile wallet app Alipay processed 256,000 payment transactions per second. A total of 1.48 billion transactions were processed by Alipay in the entire 24 hours, with delivery orders through Cainiao ( Alibaba 's logistics affiliate ) reaching close to 700 million, breaking 2016 's record. The event is now nearly four times the size of America 's biggest shopping days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Contents 1 Origins 2 Symbolism 3 Celebration 4 Trademarks 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Origins This section has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. ( Learn how and when to remove these template messages ) This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( November 2017 ) This section may require copy editing. ( November 2017 ) Chinese Singles ' Day, or Bachelors ' Day, originated at Nanjing University in 1993. Singles ' Day celebrations spread to several other universities in Nanjing during the 1990s. The holiday was named `` Singles ' Day '' because its date - 11 / 11 - consists of four `` ones, '' representing four singles. Upon graduating, these college students carried the university tradition into society. Singles ' Day has since been popularized through the internet and is now observed at several places outside of China as well. Singles ' Day serves as an occasion for single people to meet, and parties are organized at various places. The holiday was initially only celebrated by young men, hence the initial name, `` Bachelors ' Day. '' It is now, however, widely celebrated by both sexes. `` Blind date '' parties are also popular on this day, in an attempt to alter the single status of the attendees. Some schools of a university put forth a special program to gather singles together for celebration. Singles may take on a bemoaning or self - deprecating attitude for remaining single as a university student, but university initiatives have helped curb that negativity. 2011, marked the `` Singles Day of the Century '' ( Shiji Guanggun Jie ), this date having six `` ones '' rather than four -- an excuse to take celebrations to a higher level. Shopping promotions were highlighted throughout China and activities were widespread. Although this date is meant to celebrate singlehood, the desire to find a spouse or mate is often expressed by young Chinese on this date, while other love - related issues are discussed by the Chinese media. There are several theories explaining the creation of the Singles ' Day festival, as there is no one accepted origin, and the details of the first celebration are notoriously unlcear. The most widely accepted origin is one that grew out of Nanjing University 's dorm culture. In Nanjing University 's ' Mingcaowuzhu ' ( ' All single men ' ) dorm in 1993, four male students discussed how they could break away from the monotony of being single, agreeing that 11 / 11 would be a day of events and celebrations surrounding singlehood. These activities spread further into various other Nanjing universities, and eventually made their way into the wider society. This spread increased with the use of social media, which has driven the event to become increasingly popular within contemporary Chinese culture and society. A less accepted theory is based around the love story of a Nanjing University student called Mu Guang Kun, known as Guang Gun. The story goes that his girlfriend was diagnosed with cancer during his second year at the university, and eventually died. The distraught Guang Gun took to placing candles on the rooftops in memory of his lover, and on his birthday, in the subsequent year, his roommates joined him to keep him company. After this, the day became a holiday at the university, and grew to become the national, commercialized festival that is celebrated today. Symbolism The following symbolism has been associated with the special date : `` 1 '' : The figure of `` 1 '' symbolizes an individual, a single person 2x `` 1 '' : Two individuals, finding each other, and being together on one side of the special date ( 11.11 ) 2x ( 2x `` 1 '' ) : A celebration of 2 ( and more ) different and separate couples, each comprising two single individuals finding each other on the special date ( 11.11 ) Celebration In 2011, an above - average number of marital celebrations occurred in Hong Kong and Beijing on November 11. 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. As more people join in the celebration of this holiday, companies have taken the opportunity to target younger consumers, including restaurants, Karaoke, and online shopping malls. For example, the Chinese online shopping mall Taobao sold 19 billion CNY ( about 3 billion USD ) of goods on November 11, 2012. In November 2016, the e-commerce giant Alibaba has set its Singles Day record and generated 120.7 billion CNY ( 17.79 billion USD ) in gross merchandise. Mediamarkt, a German company, is also doing promotions on that day in their Dutch stores. Belgian Mediamarkt is also participating, but initial reactions have been negative since the 11th of November is an important day in Belgian history, remembering the dead and the day when the First World War ended. Trademarks The term `` 双 十 一 '' ( meaning `` Double 11 '' ) was trademarked in China by Alibaba Group on December 28, 2012, under registration numbers 10136470 and 10136420. In October 2014, Alibaba threatened legal action against media outlets that accept advertising from competitors that use this term. See also Cyber Monday Sheng nu ( 剩女, shèngnǚ `` ), so - called `` leftover women '' who remain unmarried Singles Awareness Day Singles event Black Day Black Friday ( shopping ) Boxing Day Other occasions sharing the same date : Veterans Day Remembrance Day Armistice Day References Jump up ^ CNN China China 's biggest problem ? Too many men, November 2012 Jump up ^ `` Singles ' Day 2017 -- Public Holidays China ''. Public Holidays China. Retrieved 2017 - 11 - 30. Jump up ^ C. Custer ( October 14, 2014 ). `` Tmall CEO : this year, Alibaba plans to take Singles Day global ''. Tech in Asia. Retrieved October 20, 2014. Jump up ^ Charles Kauffman ( November 14, 2017 ). `` China 's 11.11 volumes for Alibaba, JD.com continue to surge ''. aircargoworld. Retrieved November 15, 2017. Jump up ^ Steven Millward ( November 12, 2014 ). `` New record for world 's biggest shopping day as Alibaba 's shoppers spend $9.3 billion in 24 hours ''. Tech in Asia. Retrieved December 5, 2014. Jump up ^ Reuters ( November 11, 2015 ). `` Alibaba 's Singles ' Day sales hit $14.32 billion ''. Reuters. Retrieved November 11, 2014. Jump up ^ https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602850/big-data-game-changer-alibabas-double-11-event-raises-the-bar-for-online-sales/ Jump up ^ Horwitz, Josh. `` Crazy statistics from China 's biggest shopping day of the year ''. Quartz. Jump up ^ `` Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia 's startup ecosystem ''. www.techinasia.com. Jump up ^ `` Jack Ma 's Alibaba rakes in over $1 bn per hour as Singles Day record smashed ''. RT International. Jump up ^ Haas, Benjamin ( 2017 - 11 - 12 ). `` Chinese shoppers spend a record $25 bn in Singles Day splurge ''. The Guardian. ISSN 0261 - 3077. Retrieved 2017 - 11 - 30. Jump up ^ `` How China 's Singles ' Day Holiday Sold Out ''. Times. Retrieved 10 November 2015. Jump up ^ A holiday invasion -- Why are Chinese enthusiastically adopting new festive events ? Thinking Chinese, November 2011 Jump up ^ `` Singles ' Day 2017 -- Public Holidays China ''. Public Holidays China. Retrieved 2017 - 11 - 30. Jump up ^ Group, SEEC Media. `` 11 things you need to know about 11.11 Singles ' Day shopping festival ''. Retrieved 2017 - 11 - 30. Jump up ^ Wall Street Journal ( 2011 ). Chinese Couples Rush to the Altar on 11 / 11 / 11. Retrieved November 16, 2011. Jump up ^ VB business, online mall Taobao reports $3 B in sales in one day, Nov. 2012 Jump up ^ Wanxia, Lin ( 11 November 2016 ). `` Alibaba 's Singles ' Day smashes sales record in 15 hours ''. www.atimes.com. Retrieved 13 November 2016. Jump up ^ jdb, sir. `` Dit weekend vieren we een nieuwe feestdag, en die is vooral interessant voor koopjesjagers ''. Het Nieuwsblad ( in Dutch ). Retrieved 2017 - 11 - 09. Jump up ^ Eric Johnson ( Nov 6, 2014 ). `` The Chinese government has essentially given Alibaba the ' Double 11 ' market ''. InvestorPlace. Retrieved Nov 10, 2014. Jump up ^ timeanddate.com. `` 11 / 11 / 11 -- a date with a special meaning ? ''. Retrieved Nov 11, 2016. External links Creative Singles Day Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Singles%27_Day&oldid=819044439 '' Categories : E-commerce Marriage in Chinese culture November observances Public holidays in China Personal life Unofficial observances Words coined in the 1990s Autumn events in China Hidden categories : CS1 Dutch - language sources ( nl ) Use mdy dates from November 2015 Infobox holiday ( other ) Articles containing simplified Chinese - language text Articles needing additional references from November 2017 All articles needing additional references Wikipedia articles needing copy edit from November 2017 All articles needing copy edit Articles with multiple maintenance issues All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from November 2014 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Español Français Հայերեն עברית Nederlands 日本 語 Português Русский Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska 粵語 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 7 January 2018, at 02 : 39. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what's the last day for the big e
Answer: November 11th