Qixi Festival, or Chinese Valentine’s Day, is a traditional Chinese festival which celebrates the legend of the annual meeting between the mythological figures of the Cowherd (or Niulang 牛郎) and the Weaver Girl (or Zhinv织女).

As one of the most romantic festivals, Qixi Festival has deep meaning of love, separation and nostalgia. According to the legend, there was in ancient times a boy named Niulang, who was an orphan and was living a harsh life. His older brother and sister-in-law treated him badly and he only had one friend, his old buffalo.

While Niulang was living on the earth, seven fairy sisters, daughters of the Queen Mother, were living in heaven. One day the seven sisters decided to come to the earth. When they saw a river, they bathed there. Afterwards, Niulang’s buffalo suddenly started to speak and told Niulang about the seven sisters. Niulang came to the river and stole one of the fairy’s dress and when the girl discovered that her dress had disappeared, Niulang came to her and asked her to be his wife.

The young girl, Zhinv, had no doubt that Niulang was a good, honest and kind-hearted man and she accepted him right away. They two lived a happy life and had two children. However, when the Queen Mother found out about the marriage, she became furious and ordered Zhinv to immediately return to heaven.

The legend does not end here. When Niulang realized that Zhinv had returned to heaven, he took his two children and embarked for heaven with the help of his old buffalo. At this point, the Queen Mother took off one of her hairpins and created a river to separate the couple, however their loyalty touched the magpies, so they came to build a bridge for the two to meet.

Every year the Queen Mother was touched and later agreed that the two could meet once a year on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar. Every year on the same date, a flock of magpies would form a bridge to reunite the lovers for one day. This is why the festival is called Qixi Festival, or literally the Double Seventh Festival, and this year it falls today.