What´s the first thing which comes into your mind when thinking about Valentine´s day???
LOVE, ROSES, HEARTS, …. Sooooo romantic 🙂
But what do I have to expect in a very new environment and culture? Well let´s find out together…
Chinese people also celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 14th of February. So it´s basically the same ritual than in Germany and most other Western Countries. Still, they also have their own traditional day. Qixi Festival or the Seventh Eve is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh Lunar month – which is usually in August. The holiday comes from a traditional old story about a love tragedy that has been passed down from one generation to another.
Listen to this: It´s about the romantic love story of Niu Lang and Zhi Nu. Niu Lang was actually told by a cow, his only friend, to find his way to the beautiful Zhi Nu. The magical cow told him to make his way to the riverside where Zhi Nu (a young fairy) and her six sisters had a bath. He took one of the beautiful silk dresses of the girls and hid behind bushes. When they came out of the water the youngest couldn´t find her dress anymore. Then, Niu Lang came out with her beautiful dress and asked her to stay with him. Several years passed and the two still live happily together. From then on both of them meet on a bridge of magpies every year on the seventh eve. So raise your head, you will find romantic going on in the sky 🙂
Awwwwwww how sweet is that :)! The only question which came into my mind: How can she think that it is nice if a guy steels her clothes????
Anyways, the annual gift giving which is commonly associated with Valentine’s Day doesn’t take place in China. So to all of the foreign Girls which live in China – DO NOT WAIT FOR A ROSE, CHOCOLATE OR ANY OTHER GIFT! This will have a tragic end 🙂
But also in China there are several charming customs associated with this romantic day for lovers. On the Chinese Valentine’s Day, people in love like to go to the temple of Matchmaker and pray for their love and the possible marriage in China. So still there is lots of Love in the air 🙂 And the people which are still single will do the same thing but they will ask for their luck of love in the Matchmaker temple. And maybe they will even find another lonely person right next to them. You never know, right :)!!
Jula 🙂
