Singles’ Day or Bachelors’ Day (光棍节 Guānggùn Jié) is a day unofficially made for young Chinese who are single to celebrate on the 11th of November (11/11 – two elevens – aka “双十一”节 Shuāng Shíyī Jié). The date was chosen for the connection between singles and the number ‘1’. The four ‘1’s ironically refer to the individuals who have no boyfriends/girlfriends yet, therefore, becoming the bachelors or bachelorettes.

Initiated in 1993, this celebration has become popular among young Chinese, especially university and college students. In celebrating their festival, young singles organise parties and Karaoke to meet new friends or try their fortunes.

In more recent years, the festival has become commercialised as the largest physical and online shopping day in the world, compared with other shopping events such as the Black Friday shopping.

The photos below were taken when I undertook my fieldwork in China on 10/11/2008. With great interest I attended an English class in a university in which two students were presenting their topic on the Singles’ Day. The mascots they explained are represented by two common and typical Chinese breakfast food – 油条 (yóutiáo) and 包子 (bāozi).

Language points

• 光棍 (guānggùn) – single, unmarried people; bachelor or bachelorette (esp. male, oft. derogatory)
• 节 (jié) – festival, special day
• 双十一 (shuāng shíyī) – double 11(th)
• 油条 (yóutiáo) – deep-fried long twisted dough strips
• 包子 (bāozi) – steamed bun with fillings

Question

In their presentation, the two girls claimed that only in China a special day was set for the singles. Is that true? What about in your country/culture? Please leave a reply below in the comment box.

重阳节快乐！(Chóngyángjié kuàilè)

This year the Double Ninth Day falls on Sunday 25th October. In Chinese it is called as 重阳 (Chóngyáng), also known as Seniors’ Day. What does it mean then? Why is it related to the elderly historically and contemporarily in Chinese society? What do Chinese people do on the day?

Come join in our latest session of the Chinese Culture Forum 2020 series, delivered by Sihua Tang, a Master in Education candidate from SSESW, Queen’s and also enthusiastic volunteer in promoting language and culture.

For members of the public who would like to attend, please leave your name and email contact in the comment box (will not be displayed) below so that we can send you the invitation link.

This year the Mid-Autumn Festival, 中秋节 (Zhōngqiū jié) in Chinese, falls rightly on the 1st October, which coincides the Chinese National Day.

At Queen’s we are hosting an online celebration including a culture talk with language taster session, cultural performances, a culture quiz and poem appreciation, contributed by Queen’s Chinese students and alumni. The event is scheduled between 12:30 and 13:45 on the day. You are all very welcome to attend the session with the information and registration link below:

Language points

Normally people would greet each other by saying 中秋节快乐 (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival). However, in this special time of facing pandemic threat, we can add 安康 (ānkāng), meaning peace and healthy, after 快乐 (kuàilè), which becomes “中秋节快乐安康 (Zhōngqiū jié kuàilè ānkāng)”.

• 中 (zhōng) – middle, centre
• 秋 (qiū) – autumn
• 中秋 (Zhōngqiū) – mid-Autumn
• 节 (jié) – festival, day
• 快乐 (kuàilè) – happy
• 安康 (ānkāng) – peace and healthy

To learn more Chinese vocabulary and expressions in a structured way, you are welcome to attend one of our Chinese courses for non-specialist purposes.

Culture Quiz

Please submit your answers in the comment box below.

Q1. Mid-Autumn Festival is the time for people to ______ in China.
A. travel for sightseeing
B. have dragon boat races
C. worship family ancestors
D. have family reunion

Q2. When is the Mid-Autumn Festival due, according to the Chinese lunar calendar?
A. the 1^st day of the 8^th month
B. the 8^th day of the 8^th month
C. the 15^th day of the 8^th month
D. the last day of the 8^th month

Q3. What particular dessert do Chinese people like to eat on Mid-Autumn Festival?
A. pan cake
B. moon cake
C. pork pie
D. jiaozi dumpling

Q4. What do Chinese people, home and abroad, particularly do on this particular occasion?
A. watching TV and playing cards
B. making moon cakes and pies
C. watching the moon and thinking of family
D. going to pubs and eating out

Q5. In which year did the Mid-Autumn festival become an official holiday in China? 
A. 2008 
B. 2004 
C. 2010 
D. 2001 

Q6. What kinds of Chinese mythology are closely related to Mid-Autumn Festival? 
A. The Monkey Myth
B. The Moon Goddess Chang’e
C. Yu, the hero who rebuilt the Earth 
D. Yi, the hero who shot suns 

Q7. How many suns did Yi shoot down from the sky?
A. 10
B. 9
C. 8
D. 1

Q8. Why did Chang’e leave Yi?
A. Yi could not afford the cost of living
B. Chang’e’s parents did not allow her to be with him
C. Chang’e did not love Yi anymore
D. In order to keep the elixir, Chang’e swallowed it and ascended to the moon

Q9. What does this radical part ‘𥫗’ mean in the character of ‘筝 (zheng, or Chinese zither)’?
A. bamboo
B. wood
C. Stone
D. Grass

Q10. What is normally written on the surface of a mooncake?
A. Greetings and wishes for the festival celebration
B. The company trademark/logo/slogan which made the mooncake
C. Instructions of how to taste the mooncake
D. The ingredients of the mooncake

With new students’ arrival and returning students back to Queen’s, the campus is full of welcomes and smiles – although social distance should still be maintained. The first charted airplane from Beijing to Belfast in ready on its way, due to departure in the evening on the 18th Sept. Let’s wish them a smooth and pleasant journey!

How to say ‘welcome’ in Chinese?

So, to say ‘welcome’ in Chinese, one would at least say the word ‘欢迎’ twice to demonstrate a real welcoming atmosphere, plus a smiling face, and perhaps shaking hands in formal and business contexts. One seldom hugs or kisses to welcome people in the Chinese culture.

How to say ‘Welcome to Queen’s University Belfast!’, then?

Now that you know how to say ‘welcome’ – 欢迎, the order of the message is exactly the same as in English in this expression. Let’s learn a few more vocabulary, including Queen’s in Chinese.

• 来 (lái) – to come
• 女王 (nǚwáng) – queen
• 大学 (dàxué) – university
• 贝尔法斯特 (Bèi’ěrfǎsītè) – Belfast

Queen’s University Belfast (Queen’s in a known context) has its Chinese equivalence， which is called 贝尔法斯特女王大学. It can be further shortened as 女王大学 in the local context. Therefore, put together, the whole expression can be 欢迎来(贝尔法斯特)女王大学！

Here’s more for you to explore:

The date for the Chinese day was selected from Guyu (“Rain of Millet”), which is the 6th of 24 solar terms in the traditional East Asian calendars, to pay tribute to Cangjie. Cangjie is a very important figure in ancient China, claimed to be an official historian of the Yellow Emperor and the inventor of Chinese characters. Legend has it that he had four eyes and four pupils, and that when he invented the characters, the deities and ghosts cried and the sky rained millet. From then on, Chinese people celebrate the day Guyu in honour of Cangjie. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around April 20.

The UN

To celebrate the UN Chinese Language Day as part of the promotion of multilingualism and cultural diversity, ALL Queen’s staff members and students are welcome to sign up for the Taste of Mandarin Chinese online course which is a self-paced learning resource.

大家好, here’s an update for April schedule. We can still be connected during Easter break. Welcome to join via Teams.

Following our successful celebrations of CNY 2020 at Queen’s, we are pleased to update you that the Chinese Language Interest Group (Chinese LIG) will be up and running. This is a student-led learning community that aims to enhance a better understanding of Chinese culture through learning its language, with social activities taking place throughout the academic year. It is led by voluntary Chinese students for learners of Chinese or anyone who’s genuinely interested in Chinese language and culture at Queen’s and beyond. You do not have to be registered for a Mandarin Chinese course in order to attend, nor do you need to have a high language level to begin with. All you need is the enthusiasm and willingness to participate in and contribute to group activities, online or onsite. 

To better inform us about your availability for participation, we would like to run a poll for the most mutually convenient time slots. Would you please select the slots for attendance by completing the online poll by Sunday 01/03 so that we could firm up the slots?

If you would like to attend a Chinese class with Language Centre, our 3^rd semester enrolment is open  now until Thursday 16^th April. See Language Centre Website for details.

We wish you every success in your study of the Chinese language.