一年一度的光棍节马上就要来临啦，你准备好了吗？今年是2011年，又多了两根小棍子，号称史上最牛光棍节——“神棍节”。而神奇的是，搜索“光棍节”，你会发现中国是唯一一个庆祝“单身”的国家。

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 consists of four "ones". Each one symbolizes an individual who is standing alone.
光棍节发源于90年代的江苏省会南京的各所大学，光棍节定于11月11日是由于这一天的日期由四个“一”组成。每个“一”都暗示了一个单身的人。

These college students have since graduated, and carried their university tradition into society. Singles Day is now a special day for all fashionable youths.
这批大学生毕业后就把学校的传统带到了社会中，自此光棍节流行于潮男潮女年轻人中间。

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 bid goodbye to their single lives.
庆祝光棍节的常见的方式是朋友聚会，也有些人会在这天举办相亲聚会，以借机告别单身生活。但不管怎样，最重要的是在这一天秀出自己的独立个性。

For breakfast on Singles' Day, singles often eat four deep-fried dough sticks representing the four "ones" in "11.11" and one steamed stuffed bun representing the middle dot.
广大单身男女早餐通常会吃四根油条和一个包子来纪念这一特殊日子。

Some singles also choose to say goodbye to their single lives on this day: many attend "blind date" parties and many people choose to marry on this day. In addition to meaning "single", the four "nes" of the date can also mean "only one" as in "the only one for me". Some people will use this date and this meaning to tell their special someone that they are the only "one" in their heart.
而很多人选择在这天告别单身生活。有的人在这天参加相亲聚会；有的选择在这天结婚，因为四个“一”同样代表着“你是我的唯一”；还有的会在这天来一个“真情流露”。

Here's one way a lady can get married without becoming a couple. Marry herself. That's what a young Taiwan woman has done in 2010. She's getting plenty of letters of support, too, from other women who don't want to get married to someone they don't like just because their parents are pressuring them.
现在还有一种新方法告别单身，没有新郎也能结婚——和自己结婚。2010年，一位台湾女士就这么干了。而这一举动受到了许多女性朋友的来信支持，她们不想和不爱的人结婚却饱受家人逼婚之苦。

现在，单身节不仅仅是单身人群显示自立自强的日子，也是情侣们真心告白的好时机，不管是不是单身，都要把这天过得精彩~ So, what is your plan for the Singles' Day?