The Love Supermarket in Xizhimen held a blind-date party last night to celebrate Singles' Day in China.

Two young women study a photograph-filled wall of potential boyfriends in the Love Supermarket on November 11th, 2009. [China Daily]

Singles' Day is a Chinese pop culture holiday held annually on Nov 11 for single people.

"We will hold a special blind-date party tonight for Singles' Day," said Zhang Ying, manager of the Love Supermarket, yesterday.

Zhang said the matchmaking supermarket is the first company to cater for singles in Beijing.

She said since it opened one month ago, more than 500 singles have visited the market in the past month, with 60 successful connections.

The market is located on the 11th floor of Jiamao shopping mall near Xizhimen subway station.

Almost 200 photos of desperate singles hang on its walls.

"Our clients allow us to put up their photos and personal information, including age, gender, career, income and other relevant details. Our professional staff make sure visitors are serious about finding a partner to protect our clients," said Zhang.

She said this staff check costs 20 yuan per person, and the cost of a date is 100 yuan.

"Although it is a creative and fresh approach to finding a boyfriend, 100 yuan to meet just one candidate is still quite expensive," said An An, a 24-year-old female businesswoman under pressure from her parents to marry.

"The price is okay for me. What I care about is the authenticity of the information," said a 35-year-old man surnamed Li, a bank employee and recent-divorcee.

Li said he is worried the supermarket might have hired women to pose as singles to earn introduction fees.

But Zhang said all posted public information in the center is genuine.

The Love Supermarket is owned and managed by "Wo Zai Zhao Ni" ("I am looking for you"), a matchmaking website.

There are more than 500,000 single women above the average age for marriage in Beijing, CRI Online said.

Other events in the city included a promotional day at Happy Valley amusement park that allowed participants to post messages of love on billboards.

The event attracted 7,000 people, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Feng Yuan, a 29-year-old single cartoonist, said she thought Singles' Day did not deserve celebration, "I really do hope to get a boy friend but I don't want to come to singles parties because they are so busy."

Ma Zhenhan, a 30-year-old male who owns a translation company, was also skeptical, "I like Singles' Day, but it has become a trend for clever businesses to turn it into a big opportunity."