One Chinese Editor Shares What's The Big Deal About Singles' Day

If you ask anyone of Chinese descent when is the best time to shop, they’ll tell you it’s Singles’ Day. For those of you who haven’t heard of Singles’ Day, allow me to explain. The shopping-focused day was first created in 1993, by a group of college students in Nanjing, China, to celebrate the state of being single. The date 11/11 was chosen because, you guessed it, all of the ones, but the numbers also have a spiritual auspiciousness that signify an everlasting unobstructed-flowing energy. The day of self love, treating yourself, and unbeatable deals quickly took off and in 2017, it surpassed Black Friday and Cyber Monday (combined!) in online sales.

This annual online shopping extravaganza is the most anticipated event of the year for Chinese shoppers. While it's considered a global celebration, it's extra personal for me because it ties back to how I found my first job and started my career.

A few years ago, November had just rolled around and I was starting to get anxious about the upcoming shopping day. Culturally, Chinese are big gift givers. We give as a means of expressing respect to our elders, our colleagues, bosses, friends, and family. And Singles' Day is the day to stock up before family reunions or the Lunar New Year rolls around.

Because I was in the States studying at grad school, I had no time to hop from website to website looking for deals all over the place. And then I happened on Dealmoon, a site that now reaches over 20 million Chinese customers from around the world and was the first to bring Singles’ Day to the United States. It was a relief to find all the best fashion and beauty promotions or the event all in one place. They also offered extra deals, like beauty samples and gifts with purchase, which felt like a little win on top of a sale.

The next day at school, I shared my new find with fellow students and my university professor. It just so happened that Professor Li shared the same shopping anxieties as I did. While he's an esteemed scholar, he knew nothing about fashion and beauty so I helped him pick out ten handbags and eight skin-care sets for all the women in his family.

My shopping experience with Dealmoon that Singles’ Day was so good that I started checking out the site on a daily basis, finding more treasures and sharing them with my friends. I helped them learn how to place orders using international credit cards, score free shipping, acted as a translator, and my favorite part — guided them on their product decisions.

I had never thought that what I was doing could become a career. I could actually take my love and knowledge of fashion and beauty and apply it to help people find the perfect products for them. Serendipitously, I landed my dream job at Dealmoon, working on the inside of the shopping resource I visited daily.

Today we have more than 1,000 well-known brands who include Singles’ Day on their promotional calendar and consider the retail opportunity equal to Black Friday. Many of our non-Chinese retail partners had no idea how voracious of a shopper Singles' Day attracts, and it's not unheard of for first-timers to find their servers malfunctioning from the huge traffic boosts on 11/11. I am so proud to be part of bringing this major event to the U.S and beyond. To kick off Singles' Day this year, here’s five items I'll be picking up come Sunday:

After road-testing so many skin-care brands, La Mer, SK-II, and Tatcha are the three I use. At night, I use SK-II Facial Treatment Essence first, and then put La Mer cream on top of it and rinse with cool water because hot water dehydrates the skin. Tatcha's hydrating, all-natural Camellia cleansing oil is my favorite makeup remover. Because the Tatcha product is so clean, it's the only skin-care brand I recommend to friends who are pregnant.

A killer pair of designer heels from LuisaViaRoma.

And, something utilitarian. This Midea soy milk maker is going on flash sale on November 10 for $1 — it's regularly $79 and there's only 400 available. Typically only seen in Chinese kitchens, this machine is a must. Call me a traditionalist, but I think everyone should enjoy a healthy cup of fresh soy milk to start the day.