Hi everyone! Angela from BLCU here — thanks for tuning in again. I’ve been busy preparing our HSK courses these days, but I’m finally back with a new post.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, you might be expecting something festive. I do have a podcast episode about Thanksgiving vocabulary in Chinese, so feel free to check that out. But today, I want to talk about the day after Thanksgiving — the shopping extravaganza we all know as Black Friday, or in Chinese, 黑五 (hēiwǔ).

What Does “黑五 (hēiwǔ)” Mean?

“黑五” is simply a short form of 黑色星期五 (hēisè xīngqīwǔ), literally “Black Friday.”

• 黑色 (hēisè) = black

• 星期五 (xīngqīwǔ) = Friday

Since the full phrase is a bit long, Chinese speakers shorten it to just 黑 (black) + 五 (Friday) → 黑五 (hēiwǔ).

Interestingly, “Black Friday” has become the foreign counterpart of China’s huge shopping festival Double 11 — 双十一 (shuāngshíyī). Double 11 is pretty much our Super Bowl of online shopping.

And speaking of online shopping…

• 网上购物 (wǎngshàng gòuwù) = online shopping

• 线下购物 (xiànxià gòuwù) = offline shopping

• 实体店 (shítǐdiàn) = physical store / brick-and-mortar store

So during Double 11, people in China almost always shop online.

Cyber Monday in Chinese

In recent years, I keep hearing about Cyber Monday — which honestly feels even closer to Double 11.

Cyber = 电脑的 / 网络的 (diànnǎo de / wǎngluò de)
Monday = 星期一 (xīngqīyī)

So “Cyber Monday” in Chinese is:

网络星期一 (wǎngluò xīngqīyī)
And yes — it’s the Monday right after Black Friday.

But… Why “Black”?

Here’s something I’ve always been curious about:
In Chinese culture, black is usually associated with darkness and isn’t considered a festive color. For celebrations, we prefer bright, vivid colors — especially red (红色 hóngsè) and gold (金黄色 jīnhuángsè), which symbolize good luck and prosperity.

So if you know the story behind the “black” in Black Friday, please drop a comment — I’d genuinely love to hear it!

Black Friday in China? Yes — but with a twist.

Even though Black Friday originated in the U.S., it has now become a global shopping event.

In China, Double 11 is still much bigger, but because both events fall in November, many e-commerce platforms extend Black Friday–style discounts into late November.

• 折扣 (zhékòu) = discount

And here’s a question for you:

黑五的时候你会在网上购物还是线下去实体店买？在哪儿买折扣力度更大？
During Black Friday, do you shop online or in physical stores? Where do you usually find the bigger discounts?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Our Biggest Discounts of the Year

Speaking of discounts…
Our online Chinese courses are offering the biggest deal of the year for Black Friday!

From November 22 to December 7, our:

• General Chinese

• Business Chinese

• Youth Chinese

are all 20% off.

You can check details and register here: www.eblcu.com/sale

And on November 29, we’re hosting a live online information session. Scan the QR code on the page to join us!

Thanks for reading — see you in the next post!