What is the Qixi Festival? History, traditions and food of the “Chinese Valentine’s Day” explained

Like Valentine's Day, Qixi Festival has become highly commercialized and people express their love primarily through gift-giving.

Luxury brands take advantage of consumers’ potential purchasing power.

There are numerous marketing campaigns for this year's Qixi Festival, such as Gucci's campaign featuring actor Zhang Linghe and model He Cong, or Bottega Veneta's campaign featuring actress Zhou Yutong, singer Mika Hashizume and model Du Juan, which alludes to the love story behind the festival.

Balenciaga's Qixi collection includes T-shirts and hoodies decorated with hearts, while Loewe launched a campaign full of cuteness, featuring hedgehogs made using the traditional art of paper cutting.

While gift-giving is popular during the festival – and a boon for Chinese online retailers – the festival remains an important part of China's cultural heritage and reflects the country's rich history, mythology and traditions. Find out more below.

What is the story behind the Qixi Festival?

The Qixi Festival has its roots more than 2,000 years back in the Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD). It originated from the tragic love story of two ill-fated lovers: Zhinu – a weaver and daughter of a goddess – and Niulang, a simple cowherd.

The couple married and had a family, a boy and a girl. But when Zhinu's mother found out that her daughter had married a mortal, she took her back to heaven and separated the couple by creating a river of stars (the Milky Way).

According to legend, help came from an unexpected source: some magpies. The birds were so moved by the couple's tragic love story that they flew up to heaven and helped them, forming a bridge over the river of stars that allowed them to be reunited.

Zhinu's mother was also touched by the love story and finally gave in by allowing the couple to meet once a year on the same day – the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.

As with most folk legends, there are many versions, while the story is one of the four great Chinese folk tales (the others are The butterfly lovers, Ms. Meng Jiang And Legend of the White Snake).

Old and new customs

The offerings of the festival include tea, wine, flowers and fruit. The believers pray to Zhinu for wisdom – and for the fulfillment of their wishes.

Newly married women wanted a baby, while single women wanted a good partner. After praying, the women played games or read poems until midnight.

Legend has it that the Qixi Festival was an opportunity for women to show off their threading skills. One tradition was that the contest was to see who could thread a needle the fastest. The person who could thread seven needles without stopping was considered the most skilled.

Stargazing as part of the worship of Zhinu (symbolized by the star Vega) is also part of the festival tradition. Another tradition is the honoring of oxen; children do this by picking wildflowers and hanging them over the animals' horns.

A popular dish during the festival is qiao guo: sweet, fried, thin pastry filled with fillings such as red bean paste and sesame paste.

Fruit is also popular and in some traditions women carve it into various shapes, such as flowers, animals and birds.