china has 271 million online consumers, meaning that almost half of china's 591 million internet users buy products online. e-commerce sites taobao and tmall, which saw a combined $$1 trillion in sales in 2012, will both be running promotional campaigns during china's singles' day. among the offers: 50 percent discounts on products like boyfriend body pillows and hoodies that read "i am single because i am fat." amazon。cn declared that the site would sell "20,000 products discounted by as much as 90 percent." that includes a wedding ring, which singles can presumably buy, just in case.
中国有2亿7100万网络消费者，这意味着中国的5亿9100万网民中有近半数在网上购物。如淘宝和天猫的网购网站，在2012年销售量加在一起有1万亿美元。这两家网站都会在中国的光棍节这天发起促销活动，他们的促销策略是相关商品的五折优惠、比如“男朋友抱枕”、上书“我肉多所以我单身”的套头衫等。亚马逊网称将该站上将有“2万件商品1折优惠”，这其中包括结婚戒指——也许单身人士会买一只来以备日后可用。
jack ma, founder of internet giant alibaba, told chinese premier li keqiang late last month that alibaba's sales on singles' day 2012 were "nearly $$3.3 billion" -- more than double the roughly $$1.5 billion purchased on cyber monday in 2012. for singles' day 2013, ma expects sales to exceed $$4.9 billion.
网络巨头阿里巴巴的创始人马云在10月底会见李克强总理的时候曾对总理坦言，2012年光棍节期间，阿里巴巴的销售量有“近33亿美元”——比2012年美国的“网购礼拜一”创下的约15亿美元销售量翻了一番。对2013年的光棍节，马云预测销售量将突破49亿。
the rise of singletons as a consumer group is not without its own costs. chinese business magazine caijing reported that big delivery companies were forced to scramble to find over 100 extra airplanes to handle the 323 million parcels they needed to deliver over the singles' day shopping period.
消费者群体中单身族的崛起并不是没有代价的。据《中国财经杂志》报道，在光棍节期间，为了处理3亿2300万份包裹，许多大型物流公司需要筹措超过100台货运飞机四处奔走。
the holiday strains the logistics system: products frequently sell out or arrive late. even when everything moves smoothly, consumers complain about commercial gimmicks. according to the beijing evening news, a popular local paper, some online retailers quietly raise prices before slashing them.
光棍节期间物流系统往往问题百出：商品常常已经断货或者送货延期。就算物流系统一切正常，网购公司的销售猫腻也常常引起消费者不满。根据北京一家知名报刊《北京晚报》报道，许多在线零售商都会先抬高商品价格，然后再鼓吹降价销售。
but chinese have not forgotten about the true meaning of this holiday: hating singlehood. singles' day is an occasion on which chinese confess their feelings and try to find significant others. on nov. 7, with four days to go before the holiday, the top trending topic on weibo, china's twitter, was "help your roommate find someone." over 200,000 people participated in the discussion, posting pictures of their roommates (and sometimes themselves) in hopes of avoiding another lonely singles' day.
