Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Chinese man buys 99 iPhone 6s to propose to girlfriend on Single's Day – only to be rejected

A crowd gathered to record the moment and quickly shared the moment on China's social media network Weibo

Rose Troup Buchanan
Tuesday 11 November 2014 14:46 GMT
Comments
A member of the crowd captures the unsuccessful proposal
A member of the crowd captures the unsuccessful proposal (Weibo)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A young Chinese man has attempted to celebrate China’s Singles Day by proposing to his girlfriend, except it didn’t all quite go according to plan.

The programmer, from Guangzhou province, spent the equivalent of two years salary on buying 99 iPhone 6s in order to – presumably – impress his girlfriend.

Arranging roughly £50,000 worth of Apple technology in a heart shape outside their workplace, the tech worker clutched a bouquet of flowers as a small crowd gathered to watch the young man’s heartfelt proposal – and to capture the moment on their smart phones.

A closer shot of the couple (weibo)
A closer shot of the couple (weibo)

Unfortunately, the man’s girlfriend was less than impressed and turned him down in front of friends and colleagues, who then immediately shared the exchange on China’s social media network Weibo.

Weibo users were singularly unimpressed with local media reporting most simply dismissed the man’s gesture as “stupid”.

China’s “Single’s Day” was created several years ago and has grown into a worldwide phenomenon, frequently touted as the ‘biggest online shopping day in the world’ as millions of Chinese singles take to the web to buy themselves presents.

The proposal seen from above (weibo)
The proposal seen from above (weibo) (Via Weibo)

This young man may be among them as he tries to buy a present to cheer himself up. Either that, or he’s got 99 iPhones he can flog.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in