Wednesday, August 09, 2006

health magazine: Shanghai marks first Men's Day

(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-05 15:16

Male employees at 50 multinational companies in Shanghai took time off work on Thursday to celebrate "Men's Day."
The holiday was created three years ago by the editor-in-chief of the Chinese edition of Men's Health magazine, who goes by the nickname Shou Ma. He called for the day to be celebrated with a Men's Day party, which was held in Shanghai for the first time this year.

Shou said he plans to promote the festival across the country. Shou picked August 3 (the third day of the eighth month) for Men's Day, as it is opposite of International Women's Day on March 8 (the eighth day of the third month).

The local offices of Marlboro, BMW and Volkswagen, among other large companies, allowed their male employees to relax on Thursday. Male editors from Men's Health magazine were given the day off their regular duties, but had to spend the day preparing for the Men's Day party.

"It was not my original intention to provide male employees a day-off," Shou said.

"It is a day for men to release their stress," he added.