How to Celebrate Chinese Valentines Day
Before reading about how one should celebrate a Chinese Valentine’s Day, a bit of knowledge about this day is a must as it is a little different from the western form of Valentine’s Day. In China, the Valentine’s Day is called the Qixi Festival and is a story of two lovers whose names are Niu Lang and Zhi Nu. Despite being madly in love with each other. Zhi and Niu were separated by Zhi’s father who was the Emperor of Heaven, a ruler who did not want his daughter to elope with a common man. However, many magpies helped form a bridge so that the two could meat on the evening of every seventh day of the seventh lunar moon. Even today, people celebrate this day with great reverence albeit in different ways. People celebrate this day to express their devotion to love and to overcome all kinds of difficulties in life. Even those people, who are single, go to the matchmaker’s temple and ask for a partner. Unlike the western cultures, couples and singles do not believe in handing out flowers and chocolates on this day. Instead, girls follow different rituals like putting a needle on the surface of the water and if it does not sink, the girl is deemed wise enough to have a husband.
Instructions
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In order to celebrate the Chinese Valentine’s Day, find out the date for the upcoming day. Usually, it is in the month of August. You can find the date through a Chinese Lunar calendar which can be googled.
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Before making any further plans, learn the history of the Qixi Festival and why is it that it is celebrated with so much reverence and devotion. Learn about the legends associated with the story of this day.
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Now that you know enough about this occasion, celebrate it in a traditional manner. If you have young girls at home, give them some needle work to do and make offerings of fruit.
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You can also enjoy the holiday in a modern way if you want to.
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Creating a fairyland of lights would simply look awesome as it is done by the Chinese to welcome the fairy to earth so that she could meet with her lover.
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Look on the horizon for a Vega star and make a wish on it. On this day, young Chinese girls get to make a wish each from this star. Mostly the wishes are for good husbands.
