中國“單身經濟”迎商機

With diners gathered around cauldrons of boiling soup, dropPing meat and vegetables into the broth, hot pot is a quintessentially communal Chinese dish. But the country’s dominant chain has a new weapon to attract single diners: stuffed bears.

食客們簇擁在一鍋熱湯旁，將葷素菜餚放在底料中煮熟，火鍋已經公認成爲中國美食的精華。但是中國的火鍋連鎖巨頭有了一種新手段去吸引單身食客用餐：毛絨熊。

The introduction of large plush toys to accompany solo diners in the 200 outlets of the Haidilao chain highlights the efforts of businesses in China to take advantage of a demographic shift creating a rising number of single consumers.

200家海底撈火鍋店用毛絨玩具陪伴單身食客用餐，這凸顯了中國人口結構變化已催生出衆多單身食客，商家紛紛努力抓住這種變化帶來的商機。

“They help people feel less lonely,” said Wang Ping, a waitress at a Haidilao in Shanghai, suggesting the Financial Times choose between a large teddy bear and a stuffed yellow chicken.

上海海底撈店的服務生王萍（音）說：“他們可以減輕人們的孤獨感”，並向《金融時報》透露顧客可以在大泰迪熊和黃色毛絨雞中任選其一。

China’s population of adults living alone has grown 16 percent since 2012 to reach 77m, according to government statistics compiled by consultancy Euromonitor. By 2021, the number is set to rise to 92m.

據歐睿諮詢公司彙編的官方數據顯示，2012年以來，中國獨自生活的成年人已增多16%，達到7700萬，且有望在2021年增至9200萬。

The shift is driven by a trend towards later marriage in China, led by prosperous cities. In Shanghai, the average first marriage age for women has reached 30, up from 27 in 2011. Marriages are also shorter due to a doubling of the divorce rate in the past decade.

中國人的晚婚趨勢導致了這種人口變化，這一趨勢在繁榮的城市尤爲突出。在上海，女性首婚平均年齡從2011年的27歲增至30歲。由於過去十年中國的離婚率增加了一倍，所以婚姻持續的時間也相對減少。

16 percent of China’s urban population now lives alone, according to the Boston Consulting Group.

波士頓諮詢集團數據顯示，如今中國16%的城市人口獨自一人生活。

“The trend is accompanied by a profound change in people’s perceptions of remaining single: the concept is no longer stigmatised,” the group said in a recent report, meaning singles “dine, travel and pursue activities by themselves”.

波士頓集團在最近的報告中說：“這種趨勢還伴隨着人們對於保持單身的觀念的巨大改變，單身觀念不再受鄙夷。”這也意味着單身人士會“自己就餐、自己旅遊、自己從事各種活動”。

Companies have responded to the trend, which mirrors demographic shifts already experienced by China’s east Asian neighbours South Korea and Japan. Japanese chain Muji has introduced smaller rice cookers, ovens and kettles aimed at Chinese singles.

商家們也已經對這種已在東亞鄰國日本和韓國出現的人口變化趨勢做出反應。日本連鎖店無印良品專爲中國單身人士推出更小的電飯煲、烤箱和水壺。

Alibaba created Singles Day each November 11 as a celebration of the unattached lifestyle. It is now an annual consumer juggernaut, racking up Rmb120.7bn of sales in China in one day last year.

阿里巴巴將每年的十一月十一日定爲雙十一購物節，來慶祝單身生活，現已成爲一年一度的消費盛宴，去年單日銷售額高達1207億元人民幣。

Asked on what they would most like to spend their time, China’s singles chose watching films online and travelling “to make their plain and mundane lives more exciting”, according to a recent report by consultancy Mintel. They are “less likely to travel for the connection with their family or shopping compared to married people”, preferring sightseeing and experiencing local culture, the report adds.

英敏特諮詢公司近期報道顯示，當被問及最喜歡如何度過閒暇時光時，中國的單身人士選擇在線看電影或者旅行，“使其簡單平凡的生活更讓人興奮”。報告補充道，與已婚人士相比，他們不太可能會和家人一起“走親戚”或者購物，而更喜歡觀光和體驗當地文化。

Food delivery services have benefited from the trend. The sector saw 44 percent sales growth in China last year, according to consultancy Bain. Yang Gengshen, a spokesman for , one of China’s largest delivery services, which reported sales growth of 127 percent in the first half of this year, said: “In my experience, very few single people are willing to cook for themselves.”

食品外賣行業也受益於這種單身趨勢。貝恩公司的數據顯示，去年中國食品外賣行業銷售額增長44%。中國最大的外賣服務業餓了麼，今年上半年銷售額增加了127%，其發言人楊耿申（音）說：“以我的經驗來說，很少一部分的單身人士會自己做飯。”

Meituan-Dianping, a restaurant review and food delivery company, said 65 percent of its orders came from unmarried customers, with fast food the most popular order for single consumers.

美團點評是一家餐廳點評和提供食品外賣服務的公司，該公司表示其訂單中65%來自未婚人士，其中快餐是單身人士最喜歡訂購的食物。

“Single are the most important group of customers for us,” said Wang Pu Zhong, general manager of Meituan’s on-demand delivery service. “Chinese food is quite complicated?.?.?.?it takes a lot of time, so single people will think it is a waste of time compared to ordering take-out,” he added.

“單身人士對於我們來說是最重要的消費人羣”，美團外賣經理王莆中說道。他還補充說“中式菜餚做起來十分複雜…需要耗費大量時間，所以單身人士認爲，訂外賣要方便的多。”

Single eaters are a common sight in fast food restaurants and convenience stores, but more upscale restaurants have found it hard to attract singles because of a continued stigma about dining alone. “We only get a few single customers each day,” said Ms Wang, the waitress.

在快餐店和便利店中，單身食客隨處可見，但相對高檔的餐廳很難見到他們的身影，因爲一個人吃飯仍會受到異樣的眼光。服務生王女士說：“我們一天僅有幾個單身顧客來用餐。”

Shanghai singleton Chen Nie, 23, experienced a gamut of emotions when offered a teddy bear at Haidilao. “I was shocked at first. Then I felt warm,” she said. “But in the end I felt awkward because it reminded me of the fact that I’m single.”

上海的一名23歲單身人士陳聶（音），在吃海底撈時身旁有一隻泰迪熊陪着她，但是她的情緒跌宕起伏，“剛開始我很吃驚，隨後我感覺很溫暖”，她說。“但是最後我覺得很尷尬，因爲這提醒着我實際上我是一個人。”