Qi Xi Festival is a Chinese Valentine’s Day. The Festival occurs on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. In 2008, Qi Xi Festival falls on August 19.

Qi Xi Festival is about the seventh daughter of the Emperor Heaven her name was Zhi Nu (Weaving Maid), and Niu Lang, an orphaned cowherd. The Emperor disagreed Zhi Nu and Niu Lang being together, so he separated them. The seventh daughter was forced to move to the star Vega and the cowherd moved to the star Altair, separated by the Milky Way. They were only allowed to meet each 1 other once a year on the seventh day seventh of the seventh lunar month.

The Festival is also an astronomical phenomenon. Every year on the seventh of the seventh lunar, two particular stars are bright in the night sky and shine until the sun rises. People think that the two stars are the WeavingMaid and the cowherd.

In contrast to St. Valentine’s Day in the Western countries, it isn’t important to give chocolate, flowers and kisses. Instead, Chinese girls prepare fruits, melons and perfumes to give to Zhi Nu in the hope that the Weaving Maid would give them needlecraft talent and a good husband.