A Single Suitor Sticks

November 11, Singles’ Day in China, called 'Guang Gun Jie', literally ‘Bare Sticks Holiday’. Coming out of the head of students in the 1990s, it got its name because of the four ‘1s’ in 11-11. For breakfast on Singles' Day, singles often eat four so-called ‘Youtiao’, deep-fried dough sticks, representing the four ‘1s’ in 11-11 and 1 so-called ‘Baozi’, a steamed stuffed bun, representing the middle dot. On this day it’s the custom to have dinner with single friends, but having a blind date is on the menu as well. Some choose particularly this day to marry, or show affection to their only ‘1’. Image by Photobucket/chinneeq