According to interweb lore, some Nanjing University bachelors sighed about their singledom over these breakfast pastries in the 90s.
They decided that 11/11 should be Single's Day — a fete for the uncoupled to pamper themselves, party, and give gifts to secret crushes.
What had begun as cheeky counterculture gradually became one of China's biggest party days.
By 2012, Nov. 11 trumped Black Friday as the world's busiest online shopping event.
And like Valentine's Day itself, people were growing kind of sick of it.
Meanwhile, in another country, folks were getting way fed up with all V-Day related activities.
On V-Days, they organize flash mobs and throw big karaoke parties.
Kids in China liked that too.
Hey, you would too if your country celebrated both Qixi Lover's Day and the Western V-Day.
On these days, couples are known to dress like this:
On both Valentine's days, restaurants start to look like this:
In Chinese net-slang, all of these are crimes of 閃光 ("flashing") – humblebrags by the happily coupled.
So every year, the merry V-Day pranksters take to the streets and cause havoc.
So if you're dreading Valentine's Day, remember that at least you don't have to go through it twice a year.
