chinese valentine'say (or "qi qiao jie ") falls on the seventhay of the seventh month of the lunar calendar (august according to the gregorian calendar). as is the custom elsewhere in the world, this is aayevoted to romance.

in china, thisay is also known as "the begging festival" or "theaughter's festival." it is an importantay for girls. in the evening, girls ppare melons and fruit before worship and prayers for a good marriage.

there are many stories as to the origins of chinese valentine'say, and one of them involves the emperorof he***en and his sevenaughters.

the love story

the seventhaughter of the emperor of he***en and an orphaned cowherd were separated by the emperor; the girl was forced to move to the star vega (织女星，天琴座中的最亮的那颗星)and the cowherd, to the star altair(牛郎星, 牵牛星). they were only allowed to meet once a year on theay of seventhay of seventh lunar month - chinese valentine'say.

the story begins with the handsome but poor orphan who lived with his elder brother and sister-in-law. after his parents passed away, the boy's brother inherited the house and land. but all he had was an old ox. as a cowherd, the boy had to work the farm fields with his ox everyday. hisaily life routine resembled the story of cinderella (《灰姑娘》).

the seventhaughter of the emperor, also known as the we***ing maid, was good at handcrafting, especially we***ing clothes. the emperor particularly appciated her skills of we***ing clouds with rainbows to make the world more beautiful.

the cowherd's ox, which was actually an immortal from he***en, made mistakes in he***en and was reincarnated as an ox to toil on earth. oneay, the ox suddenly said to the cowherd: "you are a nice person. if you want to get married, go to the brook and your wish will come true."

the cowherd went to the brook and watched the seven pttyaughters of the emperor comeown from he***en to take a bath. fascinated by the youngest and the most beautiful one, the cowherd hid her fairy clothes. when the other six fairies went away after the bath, the youngest could not fly back to he***en without her fairy clothes.

the cowherd then appeared and told the we***ing maid that he would keep her clothes until she agreed to be his wife. after a slight hesitation, mixed with coyness and eagerness, the maid accepted the handsome man's proposal. the couple was then married and had two children two years later.

meanwhile, up in he***en, the emperor missed the beautiful skies once woven by his seventhaughter. he ordered hisaughter's grandmother to find her and bring her back to him. as the seventh princess was flying to he***en with her grandmother, the cowherd put on his old ox's hide (which he pserved after the animal hadied long ago) and put their children into two bamboo baskets laced with his wife's magical fairy clothes to chase after his love.

but the grandmother created a milky way in the sky with her hairpin, which kept the lovers apart. the seventh princess moved to the star vega (the swooping eagle) in the lyra (harp) constellation. and the cowherd and their two children stayed on the star altair (flying one) in the aquila (eagle) constellation.