The Hongqiao Lvgu Plaza, a modern commercial complex integrating company headquarters with office buildings, commercial spaces and recreational facilities will host a blind date party on Nov 11. [Photo / en.shhqcbd.gov.cn]

China's Singles Day — a consumer shopping day invented by Alibaba and much like Black Friday in the U.S., is right around the corner. But apart from the shopping spree, there is another important offer for single men and women living in Hongqiao Central Business District (CBD).

The Hongqiao Lvgu Plaza, a modern commercial complex integrating company headquarters with office buildings, commercial spaces and recreational facilities will be hosting a blind date party on Nov 11. There will be several interactive icebreaking games for participants to get acquaintance with each other and possibly find their match made in heaven.

China is actually the only country in the world that has set aside a special day, November 11, for singles to celebrate their lives. It originated from an old story that four single men one day played Mahjong from 11 in the morning until 11 at night. During the game, no matter who won, the winning card was always the 'four columns' card (the card shows four independent, parallel columns in two lines). Even more of a coincidence, it was Nov 11, or 11/11. In order to commemorate the day, they nicknamed it Singles Day.

Singles Day was first celebrated at various universities in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province during the 1990s. It got the name Singles Day because the date is comprised of four "ones". The college students have since graduated, but they carried their university tradition into society. Singles Day is now a special day for all fashionable youth.

The main way to celebrate Singles Day is to have dinner with your single friends, but it's important that each person pay their own way to show their independence. People also hold 'blind date' parties in an attempt to say goodbye to their single lives.