Things to Do on Chinese's Valentine's Day

[yajuan]

Chinese lovers get two chances to celebrate their romance, with the Western holiday of Valentine's Day on Feb. 14, and the traditional Qixi Festival on July 7 of the lunar calendar.

China's Qixi festival falls on August 19 this year. The festival is based on an ill-fated love story involving a cowherd and a fairy seamstress. Niulang, the cowherd, and Zhinv, the fairy, fell in love and later ascended to the heavens, becoming two stars separated by the galaxy. They could only meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, when thousands of magpies formed a bridge to allow them to cross the galaxy. Chinese started to pray for good lives and love on the festival in the middle of the Han Dynasty (202 B.C. to 220 A.D.).

So, here are some tips for lovers who want to experience a traditional Chinese romance.

Exchange Tokens of Love

Jequirity (love pea)

Jequirity is an old keepsake symbolizing two lovers missing each other. Legend has it that a man went to battle in ancient China, and his wife leaned against a tree to pray for him every day. She cried for him, and a drop of blood fell from her eyes and melted into a red pea, which took root and grew into a large tree, producing many red peas. The red peas are now known as "love peas."

Young people use the peas to make necklaces and bracelets. They also present them to each other as a token of eternal love.

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