11.11 Day

The Double 11, also known as Singles’ Day, is just a few days away. What is Singles’ Day? Well, it’s only the biggest shopping sale in China. This is a day for everyone to spend on themselves.

What is it all about?

Singles’ Day was started in 1993 by some students at Nanjing University. The date 11/11 was chosen to be Singles’ Day due to the fact the number 1 is similar to a group of sticks which in Chinese is 光棍 (guānggùn), which translates to bachelor or lonely man. The four ones in the date is used to symbolize a group of single people. Throughout time, this day has also become a date to celebrate relationships with the thought of pairing up single people.

Where can I find it?

Sales are mostly on Taobao but some brands have in store sales as well. Taobao is a Chinese online shopping website and app owned by Alibaba. In 2009, Alibaba turned November 11 into a national shopping festival making it the world’s largest shopping day as of this moment. Double 11 has surpassed its US equivalent Black Friday. This day has become the largest online shopping day not only in China but in several other countries around the world. It’s such a big celebration and shopping day because e-commerce businesses offer massive discounts on everything with the intention to reach young consumers. You can buy anything from make-up and clothes, to electronics and cars. You can directly access Taobao through its app or through your Alipay account.

Get shopping!

On November 10th, you can pre-order your items making a deposit payment to secure the item and finishing the payment on November 11th. So start making your shopping list and get ready for the biggest sales’ day of the year!