The Chinese equivalent of Valentine’s Day, the Qi Xi Festival (‰∏ɧï), will be marked twice this year, one at the end of this month and then again at the end of August, due to a quirk in the lunar calender.
The event, also known as Double Seventh Day, is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month according to the lunar calender.
The Qi Xi Festival is based on an ancient Chinese fairy tale that tells of the love between a farm boy named Niulang (牛郎) and a fairy living in heaven named Zhinu (织女). The ancient God of heaven became angry at the pair and only allowed them to meet once a year. After time, Niulang and Zhinu became two stars in the sky, who were linked to each other once a year in the middle of the summer by the Milky Way. [Full Text]
See also China’s Lovers’ Day needs more lovers by Xinhua via China Daily.