Festival turns into spending for lovers

"Double 11", which is quickly turning into China's biggest grassroots festival, somewhat overlaps with Valentine's Day and provides another occasion for lovers to buy each other gifts.

But it differs from the imported holiday in one key area: Since the four numeral ones used in writing the month and day suggest single status in Chinese, only those who want to shed themselves of this status fit the description. And they declare their love in increasingly ingenious ways - often measured in material terms.

Sending 999 roses is so old-fashioned. On a college campus in Guangdong province, a young couple stood in front of the young man's dormitory, surrounded by hundreds of fellow students. Suddenly, the lights in each window formed the letters "I LOVE YOU". As the young man handed the woman a large bouquet, pink balloons fell from the sky. After he kissed her, a school bus arrived, picked her up and drove her to her dorm, which was only a stone's throwaway.