The city of Beijing is getting festive with the arrival of Christmas. Shopping mall business is up, restaurant bookings are up, and box office ticket sales are up. Perhaps the only things "down" in the city are the feelings of single people.
It is hard to say when Christmas became Santa's version of Valentine's Day. But for me, it started as a first year student in university. In that year, as my roommates and I discussed how to celebrate our first Christmas in college, one of the girls proclaimed loudly: "Sorry, I have plans with my boyfriend - don't count me in."
This was only the beginning. By the final year of my college life, there was only one girl in my dormitory who was available to celebrate Christmas with me. And for this coming Christmas, I can't find a single person out of all of my friends to spend the celebration with. Instead of becoming the chosen one, I was being left behind. I now know how difficult it is for single people to survive the holiday seasons.
However, many single people deny the truth, insisting that they enjoy being single. It is true that being single comes with its perks - they have more time to focus on study, work, and their lives - but I always wonder if they really enjoy being single.
They can either ground themselves in their own homes or choose to go out alone. Once go out, they will find that big cities like Beijing have no room for single people. It is unpleasant to eat in a restaurant by yourself when surrounded by happy couples. They could instead go to the cinema for a good movie, but as the lights come back on, the same happy faces will surround them.
To make matters worse, they will soon find they are no longer welcomed by couples "We have a date," or "We have a double date," or even "Sorry, we'd like to have some quality time together."
So, if you are lucky enough, you might just manage to find some single friends to hang out with this Christmas. But always keep in mind that there will be a day when all of your friends will hook up with others. May Jingle Bells toll a warning for all the single people like me.
