In the United States, the lonely have Reddit and cats. In China, they have Singles' Day, which falls on Nov. 11 -- 11.11, the four ones symbolizing "bare branches," Chinese slang for bachelors. Thought to have originated about 20 years ago as a joke on college campuses, Singles' Day was once an occasion for confessing one's feelings to that special someone. But since 2010, online retailers have transformed the holiday, also known as "Double 11," into an epic online shopping extravaganza akin to America's Cyber Monday.
在美国，孤单的人有红迪网和猫。在中国，孤单的人有光棍节。光棍节在每年11月11日，即11.11象征着“光棍”，汉语中给单身人士的诨名。光棍节大约20年前兴起自中国大学校园，学生们借这个日子打趣，在这一天向自己心仪的对象表白。但是2010年之后，又称“双11”的光棍节，被网络零售商转变成了和美国的“网购礼拜一”相似的网购狂欢庆典。


小编注：网购礼拜一Cyber Monday，是最近几年来欧美逐渐流行起来的一个名词。其中的Monday指的是感恩节假期之后的第一个上班日，礼拜一。Cyber Monday 就是感恩节假期之后的第一个上班日的网购促销活动。
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。


待续。。。。