Valentines Day - Qi Qiao Jie

After having survived the Chinese New Year and related festivals Valentines Day is now upon us. English media in China are busily advertising Valentine dinners usually with a price tag with a lot of 888's in it to bring the diners more luck. The price of red roses has temporarily increased threefold (but still cheaper than in the West).

It is interesting to know that apart from the commercially oriented Valentines day China also has its own day of love - Qi Qiao Jie - which falls on the seventh day of the seventh (lunar) month. This year this will be on August 26 th.

There are two legends surrounding the origins of Chinese Valentine's Day. Both involve the position of the stars on the seventh day of the seventh month in the Chinese lunar calendar .

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/foodfestivals/a/chinavalentine.htm explains two possible origins which are both nicely not commercial:

"According to the first version , the seven daughters of the Goddess of Heaven caught the eye of a Cowherd during one of their visits to earth. The daughters were bathing in a river and the Cowherd, Niu Lang, decided to have a bit of fun by running off with their clothing. It fell upon the prettiest daughter (who happened to be the seventh born), to ask him to return their clothes.

Of course, since Niu Lang had seen the daughter, Zhi Nu, naked, they had to be married. The couple lived happily for several years. Eventually however, the Goddess of Heaven became fed up with her daughter's absence, and ordered her to return to heaven. However, the mother took pity on the couple and allowed them to be reunited once a year. Legend has it that on the seventh night of the seventh moon, magpies form a bridge with their wings for Zhi Nu to cross to meet her husband.

In the second story, Niu Lang and Zhi Nu were fairies living on opposite sides of the Milky Way. Feeling sorry for the two lonely sprites, the Jade Emperor of Heaven actively tried to bring them together. Unfortunately, he succeeded too well - Niu Lang and Zhi Nu became so enraptured with each other that they neglected their work. Annoyed, the Jade Emperor decreed that from that point on, the couple could only meet once a year - on the seventh night of the seventh moon".

I guess that L. and I will end up celebrating both, in the same way that we also do several New Year's eves each year.