Qixi Festival

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Another festival takes place on the same date in parts of China: Seventh Night.

On the 7th Day of the 7th Month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar it is said that, in the cool and quiet of the evening, seven fairies come to the world from the heavens to visit all of the young daughters, bringing them good luck and helping them find a nice lover.

Because of the date it is often called the Double-Sevens or Double-Seventh Festival or the Night of Sevens – and it resembles in many respects Valentine’s Day in Western cultures.

The Qixi Festival is also known as the Daughter Festival. Every girl takes this festival very seriously and really hopes that the seven fairies will bring to her good luck and good fortune in her search for a lover and partner.

All girls try their best to make their handicrafts nice and put them on display to show to the seven fairies. With the displays they put offerings to the fairies. Young ladies also take great pains to make themselves look very beautiful. They pray to the fairies asking for good luck in their search, and then they go out wandering in the streets or sit on the steps of buildings with friends, seeking their ideal lover, The Qixi Festival is a deeply romantic traditional celebration.

There is also a legend that during this night you can see that the heavenly bodies Altair and Vega meet together on either side of the "heavenly river," which is the Milky Way. They are expressing their heartfelt devotion for each other. After that night, they will leave each other for another year, when they will meet again.

The Qixi Festival has very ancient origins and is widely known by Chinese people, no matter how old or young. There are references to the festival going back to 200 BC and the time of the Han Dynasty. However, many changes are known to have taken place with regards to how it is celebrated each year. Traditional ways of celebrating the festival also vary across China.