Chinese singles huddle for warmth on "Single´s Day"

By visiting cinemas and chinking wine glasses, China's singles reveled last Wednesday, the "Single's Day", to beat loneliness amid whistling wind and falling snowflakes.

  In the country's major cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, lonely hearts who knew each other on the Internet met and huddled for warmth. Party invitations were posted in the cyber-space, calling for the participation of singles. Cinemas provided discounts, encouraging the singles to accidentally bump into "the one" by sitting next to him or her.

  In the northwestern Shaanxi Province, netizens called on local singles to take No. 11 bus at 11 minutes past 11 o'clock on the day to socialize and "find the serendipity."

  Guanggun Day, or single stick day, originated in the 1990s. College students came up with Nov. 11th with all its single digits to celebrate and perhaps wallow in the loneliest number.

  "Although there is snow tonight, I prefer to wear skirt for the party," said a 28-year-old Beijing woman surnamed Ma, who was going to attend a party for the singles staged by a local matchmaker company.

  In the northern Taiyuan City, where the snow measured more than 15 centimeters, singles braved the snowfall to gather in Karaoke bars to give their loneliness a musical outlet. "It's our day. It's the Valentine's Day for all the singles, isn't it?" said Chen Qing, a Taiyuan white-collar worker and one of the organizers of a party for singles in the downtown.

GangZi, a musician in Heilongjiang Province, also turned to music to express his mixed feelings for being single on the special day. "I hope my song 'Good to be single' could give the singles an emotional support," he said. "But I also hope they can stop being single by finding love."

  Men and women, who are still waiting for Cupid's arrows to fall on them in the snowy Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, exchanged snowballs and affectionate gestures in the chilly wind.

  The revel was a source of wealth for merchants. Many shops in the region put up advertising signs saying "Happy Single's Day!" to attract consumers. "Most of the consumers who are buying gifts in the name of Single's Day are college students," said a gift shop owner.