Young couples don’t go to “love hotels” on Valentines Day anymore. In fact, they pretty much don’t go anywhere now, because the youth of China are increasingly checking in as singles. To play e-sports. But they might take their dog with them.
年轻情侣情人节不再去“情趣酒店”了。事实上，他们现在几乎哪儿也不去，因为中国的年轻人越来越多地单身。去玩电子竞技。但他们可能会带着他们的狗一起去。
Valentines Day of 2023 in China has been dominated by rise of e-sport hotels and pet hotels, newly-revealed data shows. It all points to the increasing importance of the “singles economy”, as it is being called (单身经济).
最新公布的数据显示，2023年中国情人节的主角是电竞酒店和宠物酒店的崛起。这一切都表明“单身经济”（单身经济）的重要性日益增加。
While it has been headline news for a while that the Chinese population is now shrinking, a driving factor thereto is the growth in the numbers of people choosing to remain single. And now they have become a more-than-significant economic force.
虽然中国人口正在减少已经成为头条新闻一段时间，但其驱动因素是选择保持单身的人数增加。现在他们已经成为一支非常重要的经济力量。
Numbers coming out of our own Jiangsu for 2022 show a decline in the number of marriages registered in Wuxi, Changzhou, Lianyungang and Yangzhou. In those cities, the average age for marriage is now over 30 years old, reports The Paper.
江苏2022年的数据显示，无锡、常州、连云港和扬州的结婚登记数量有所下降。据澎湃新闻报道，这些城市的平均结婚年龄现已超过30岁。
It’s a massive shift for a country where tradition states a lady should be wed by the time she is 24.
对于一个传统规定女士应该在 24 岁之前结婚的国家来说，这是一个巨大的转变。
Put it all together and China ended 2022 with in excess of 240 million single people, claims Yangtze Evening News.
据《扬子晚报》称，总而言之，截至 2022 年，中国单身人口超过 2.4 亿。
It makes them a main force in the consumer market, especially on Valentine’s Day.
这使得他们成为消费市场的主力军，尤其是在情人节。
According to data released by Ctrip, the rise in bookings for e-sport hotels this year exceeded that for hotels aimed at couples, becoming the hotel category showing the most growth.
携程公布的数据显示，今年电竞酒店预订量增幅超过情侣酒店，成为增长最快的酒店类别。
For the single people of Generation Z, Valentines Day was a reason to check in to such a hotel and find an e-sport room to play games in groups.
对于Z世代的单身人士来说，情人节是入住这样的酒店、找个电竞室集体玩游戏的理由。
Then there is the “pet economy” (宠物经济) that has also become one of the most promising consumption trends in recent years. Month-on-month bookings for pet hotels over the Valentines-Day period this year were up by more than 70 percent.
再有就是“宠物经济”（宠物经济）也成为近年来最被看好的消费趋势之一。今年情人节期间宠物酒店的预订量环比增长了 70% 以上。
As to the factors driving the changing demographics and the habits thereof, the Lianyungang Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau has now gone on the record.
对于人口结构及其习惯变化的影响因素，连云港市民政局已予以备案。
In addition to common speculation, the Bureau cites a change in the concept of marriage among younger generations, a development unthinkable in the China of 10 or 20 years ago.
除了普遍的猜测外，该局还提到了年轻一代婚姻观念的变化，这在十、二十年前的中国是不可想象的。
