Chinese Valentine's Day

Chinese Valentine's Day

There are various days where Valentines Day is celebrated in China such as 520 Day and Qixi Festival. The dates vary in accordance with the Chinese Lunar Calender.

520 Day is celebrated as "I love you" day in China, with many couples expressing their love through messages or gifts. What does reading aloud 520 in Mandarin sound like? Well, 520 is homophonic to “I love you” in Chinese! In fact, the 20th of May (520)  is pronounced (wǔ èr líng) which sounds very similar to 我爱你（wǒ ài nǐ）I love you. That is why the 20th (and 21st) have been labeled as the Internet Valentine’s Day（网络情人节).

Qixi Festival is a celebration of romantic love, the festival is also often described as the traditional Chinese equivalent of Valentine's Day. The festival is derived from Chinese mythology: people celebrate the romantic legend of two lovers, Zhinü and Niulang, who were the weaver girl and the cowherd, respectively.