Source: CCTV.com

08-02-2006 10:06

Monday marked the traditional Qi Xi Festival, China's Valentine's Day. The festival falls on the seventh day of the seventh month, on the lunar calendar, a time for romance around the country.

Many young people around the country celebrated the Chinese equivalent of Valentines' Day.

Twenty couples from Guangxi choose to plant some vegetables. Ege from Berlin, and his fiancee took part. A card among the plants spelled thing out nicely.

In Shanghai, some chose the auspicious day to register for marriage.

In Chinese culture, red symbolizes happiness.

Shanghai resident said:"The day is meaningful, the Chinese Lovers' Day. I hope it can add good luck to our marriage."

In Tianjin, heavy rains couldn't stop the couples.

Tianjin resident said:"Niulang and Zhinu, according to the legend, met on this day every year. We come from different cities. And we hope we'll be united from the ceremony on."

Qi Xi is a holiday for people of all ages. These two are both over ninety, and have been married for 77 years. With their great grand children in attendance, four generations celebrated the festival.

In Lijiang, in China's southwest Yunnan province, festivities with a typical local favor were held.

The Qi Xi Festival dates back to a 2,500-year-old poem from the Han Dynasty. It recounts the tale of two literally star crossed lovers. Niulang, a cow herder, and Zhinv, a seamstress, are a pair of lovers symbolized by stars and separated by the milky way. They are only reunited once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Lunar calendar, when magpies form a bridge allowing them to cross.

 

Editor:Wang Ping