November 11, a day represented by four digits of 1, has been dubbed "Bachelor Day" by young single Chinese.

Statistics in 2004 show that among Chinese in the 22 to 49 age bracket, males outnumber females by 16.97 million, which means tens of millions of single Chinese in this age group. The "Bachelor Day" has been initiated by single college students and, although enjoys no holiday leave, has become a vogue of the day among single white collars.

According to a survey conducted by the China Youth Daily and Sohu.com nearly 80 percent interviewees don't think bachelordom is the substitute name for loneliness, solitude and boredom. On the contrary, singleness sometimes means more independence, more freedom and unrestrained planning of life.

When explaining the reasons for being single 40 percent interviewees believe growing self-consciousness among the young has raised the bar for selecting the other half. 20 percent netizens believe it is because social environment has become more tolerant and being single is facing less pressure of public opinion.

By People's Daily Online