China certainly has its fair share of holidays, but one of the newest and most peculiar kids on the block is “Love Day”, known as “网络情人节” in Chinese (literally “Internet Valentine’s day”), celebrated on May 20^th every year.

In modern Chinese society, it is becoming more and more difficult to find partners and dates because of financial pressure, busy work schedules, and the conflict between traditional societal gender roles and modern dating life. This is a constant topic of discussion in China, so it’s no wonder a holiday like Love Day has come about.

Many people believe it’s a holiday manufactured by business to drum up more sales (and expensive dates!), but as often happens in China, people jump into it full bore; it’s becoming one of the most popular days for weddings and marriage registrations! There are even a host of tech-based solutions for Chinese dating issues, including apps that allow you to buy a beer for someone across the bar or send a “message in a bottle” to random WeChat App users, all from your smartphone.

For the curious, the date was chosen because of pronunciation similarities between the Chinese for “I love you” (我爱你) and “5-2-0.” Happy Love Day everyone!