Singles' Day - the Chinese opposite of Valentines that's turned into a massive online shopping event - has been all over the news. It's a day when single people are supposed to buy themselves presents, or get them from their coupled-up friends. But there are sinister sociological reasons at play behind China's 'celebration' of single life. And the imbalance could have big consequences for the country。

光棍節(jié)——中國的反情人節(jié)，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)成為了盛大的電子商務(wù)盛會。在這一天，單身的人會給自己買禮物，或者從他們已經(jīng)成雙成對的朋友那里收到的禮物。然而，在中國的光棍節(jié)背后還有這復(fù)雜的社會學(xué)原因，這也對中國社會產(chǎn)生了巨大的影響。

There were 34 million more men than women in China in 2011. Part of that is natural - usually there are 105 boys born for every 100 girls. But the Chinese gender ratio at birth is much more stark. It was 116 boys to 100 girls in 2012. The one child policy is largely to blame. Brought in to curb population expansion, the policy allowed only one child per family。

2011年，中國男性比女性多出3400萬，這種情況有自然的成因——每出生100個女孩會出生105個男孩。但是中國的性別比率會更懸殊一點，2012年每100個女孩會出生116個男孩。而這種現(xiàn)象的背后，很大的一個原因是計劃生育政策。由于人口數(shù)量龐大，政策要求每個家庭只能要一個孩子。

But because male children are seen as more valuable, as well as more likely to support their parents in old age, some parents chose to have a son over a daughter. The result? Large numbers of surplus men who will likely never get married. In fact, one study has predicted that by 2030, 1 in 5 Chinese men in their 30s will never have married , while another states that 94% of unmarried people in China are men。

但是因為男孩子對家里顯得更為重要，在父母年邁時也看上去更能照顧他們，因此一些父母會有重男輕女的思想。結(jié)果呢?大量的男性可能找不到配偶。實際上，一項調(diào)查預(yù)測到2030年，20%的中國男性30幾歲會還沒結(jié)婚，另一個調(diào)查表明94%的未婚人士會是男性。

Some parents are trying to find partners for their sons at physical markets, where people post personal ads detailing their characteristics, as well as their work and educational achievements. Traditionally China has seen high levels of marriage, usually among the young, but measures brought in by the government, as well as increased education and career opportunities for women have meant marriages are happening later。

一些家長會幫自己的兒子相親，貼上廣告介紹兒子的性格、工作和教育背景。通常來說中國的婚姻都是較高標準的，尤其是在年輕人之間。但是政府標準的引入，以及教育程度的提高、女性工作機會的增加都使得年輕人結(jié)婚更晚。

It's also traditional that women marry up - meaning they marry men from a higher socioeconomic bracket than themselves. So women at the top and men at the bottom find themselves alone. That's a big problem in a society that still focuses on family life as the ideal. One study has even suggested a link between an imbalanced sex ratio and growth in violent crime in the country。

同樣，女性嫁得好也是很正常的——她們通常會與社會地位比自己高的男性結(jié)婚。因此社會地位高的女性和社會地位低的男性就剩下了。社會仍舊把家庭關(guān)系假設(shè)得非常理想，一項調(diào)查同時認為不平衡的性別比例和國家暴力犯罪率也有關(guān)系。

There's a huge number of young, single Chinese people and Chinese businesses have tackled that market aggressively. But Singles Day can't solve all the problems China's singles face. Indeed, it's possible it's causing even more problems, as men resort to increasingly risky lines of work to increase their chances of gaining money and thus a wife. And as capitalism starts to overcome romance, there's evidence that China's marriage market is increasingly materialistic。

大量的單身青年促進了中國的市場，然而光棍節(jié)卻解決不了中國的單身現(xiàn)狀。實際上，它可能會創(chuàng)造更多問題。因為男人可能會為了掙錢娶妻而采取非同尋常的掙錢手段。當(dāng)金錢勝過浪漫，中國的婚姻會變得更加現(xiàn)實。