Culture Insider: Qixi - the Chinese Valentine's Day

If it rains heavily at night, some elderly Chinese will say it is because Zhinu, or the Weaving Maid, is crying on the day she met her husband Niulang, or the Cowherd, on the Milky Way.

Most Chinese remember being told this romantic tragedy when they were children on Qixi, or the Seventh Night Festival, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. This year it falls on Monday, August 28.

A ceremony is held at the Dabaoen Temple in Nanjing to celebrate the Qixi Festival, Aug. 27, 2017. (Photo/Asianewsphoto)

Folklore Story

As the story goes, once there was a cowherd, Niulang, who lived with his elder brother and sister-in-law. But she disliked and abused him, and the boy was forced to leave home with only an old cow for company.

The cow, however, was a former god who had violated imperial rules and was sent to earth in bovine form.

One day the cow led Niulang to a lake where fairies took a bath on earth. Among them was Zhinu, the most beautiful fairy and a skilled seamstress.

The two fell in love at first sight and were soon married. They had a son and daughter and their happy life was held up as an example for hundreds of years in China.

Yet in the eyes of the Jade Emperor, the Supreme Deity in Taoism, marriage between a mortal and fairy was strictly forbidden. He ordered the heaven troop to catch Zhinu back.

Women dressed in ancient Chinese costumes show their needlework in Kaifeng city, Henan Province, Aug. 27, 2017. (Photog/Asianewsphoto)

Niulang grew desperate when he discovered Zhinu had been taken back to heaven. Driven by Niulang's misery, the cow told him to turn its hide into a pair of shoes after it died.

The magic shoes whisked Niulang, who carried his two children in baskets strung from a shoulder pole, off on a chase after the empress.

The pursuit enraged the empress, who took her hairpin and slashed it across the sky creating the Milky Way which separated husband from wife.

But all was not lost as magpies, moved by their love and devotion, formed a bridge across the Milky Way to reunite the family.

Even the Jade Emperor was touched, and allowed Niulang and Zhinu to meet once a year on the seventh night of the seventh month.

An elderly woman shows a handmade artwork made of grains in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Aug. 27, 2017. (Photo/Xinhua)

This is how Qixi came to be. The festival can be traced back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).

Traditionally, people would look up at the sky and find a bright star in the constellation Aquila as well as the star Vega, which are identified as Niulang and Zhinu. The two stars shine on opposite sides of the Milky Way.

Customs

In bygone days, Qixi was not only a special day for lovers, but also for girls. It is also known as the "Begging for Skills Festival" or "Daughters' Festival."

In this day, girls will throw a sewing needle into a bowl full of water on the night of Qixi as a test of embroidery skills. If the needle floats on top of the water instead of sinking, it proves the girl is a skilled embroiders.

Single women also pray for finding a good husband in the future. And the newly married women pray to become pregnant quickly.

Actors perform a underwater wedding show at a marine park in Yantai, Shandong province, Aug. 26, 2017. (Photo/Xinhua)

Tradition transformed

The love story of Niulang and Zhinu, and the Qixi Festival have been handed down for generations. Yet these ancient traditions and customs are slowly dying out.

Many modern Chinese, particularly youngsters, seem to know more about St Valentine's Day on February 14, characterized by bouquets of roses, chocolates and romantic candlelight dinners, than they do about their home-grown day for lovers.

Even Qixi is nowadays referred to as the "Chinese Valentine's Day." More and more young Chinese people begin to celebrate this day in a very similar way as that in western countries.

Seven couples take part in a group wedding in the traditional Qiang ethnic group costumes in Ningqiang county, Shaanxi Province, Aug. 27, 2017. (Photo/Xinhua)

Fewer people than ever will gaze at the heavens on Saturday to pick out the two stars shining bright on either side of the Milky Way, that is, if people even know on which day Qixi falls.

There are ready reminders dotted about, in the form of big ads saying "Sales on Chinese Valentine's Day!" in shops, hotels and restaurants.

But few young women will mark the festival with their boyfriends, or take part in traditional activities to pray for cleverness.

Veteran U.S. pilot Kaillie Humphries Armbruster got her second two-woman World Cup bobsled win of the season on Sunday, shortly before German star Francesco Friedrich's streak of 48 consecutive medal-winning finishes on the circuit came to an end.

Humphries Armbruster teamed with Jasmine Jones to win by the slimmest of margins in bobsled — one one-hundredth of a second. They finished two runs at St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 2 minutes, 18.40 seconds, while the Swiss team of Melanie Hasler and Nadja Pasternack was second in 2:18.41.

Laura Nolte and Leonie Kluwig of Germany were third in 2:18.43. The 0.03-second margin between the three medal-winning sleds was the closest in a World Cup race since 0.02 seconds separated the top three finishers in a two-man race at Whistler, Canada, on Jan. 23, 2016.

It was the 32nd World Cup win for Humphries Armbruster and the first for Jones.

"I knew that Kaillie and I could do it with fast pushes and a great drive,” Jones said.

Kaysha Love and Emily Renna were eighth for the U.S. in the two-woman race, while Elana Meyers Taylor and rookie bobsledder Jadin O'Brien — a national champion in track at Notre Dame — were 10th.

In the four-man race, Friedrich drove his sled to a sixth-place finish — his lowest in a World Cup two- or four-man event since January 2023. He had 19 golds, 22 silvers and seven bronzes in that 48-race streak since; one of those golds was later taken away following sanctions against a German brakeman.

Instead, it was Adam Ammour of Germany driving to the win — the first four-man victory of his career. Johannes Lochner of Germany drove to second and Michael Vogt of Switzerland was third.

Frank Del Duca was 16th for the U.S., which will unveil its Olympic teams for the Milan Cortina Games next week.

USA Luge's women's doubles team of Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby are going to the Olympics. The Milan Cortina Games will be the first to include women's doubles as a medal event.

Only 11 sleds are going to the Olympics in women's doubles, primarily the top-ranked sled from each competing nation. That means the U.S. team of Maya Chan and Sophia Gordon — a contending sled all season with more than enough standings points to qualify — likely won't compete at the Olympics, unless some nations decline their spot in the Milan Cortina field.

Also Olympics-bound for the U.S.: the men's doubles teams of Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa, plus 2022 Olympians Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander.

The team will be unveiled by USA Luge on Monday and likely to be officially nominated by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee later this week.

In a World Cup women's doubles race at Winterberg, Germany, on Sunday, Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal from the host nation won in 1:26.710, followed by Selina Egle and Lara Kipp of Austria and Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina of Germany.

Germany also won the men's doubles World Cup race, with Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt prevailing in 1:25.599. Austria took silver and bronze; Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl were second, Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schoepf were third.

Mueller and Haugsjaa were the top U.S. men's doubles sled, placing 10th.

Germany finished off a sweep of the day with a win in the team relay, with Austria second and Italy third. The U.S. was fourth.

Luge: World Cup men’s singles, women's singles Saturday at Oberhof, Germany.

Bobsled: World Cup monobob, two-man races Saturday at Altenberg, Germany.

Skeleton: Men’s, women’s and mixed World Cup races on Friday at Altenberg.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Austria's Selina Egle and Lara Michaela Kipp race through the ice channel, during the Women's doubles 1st run, at the Luge World Cup, in Winterberg, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (David Inderlied/dpa via AP)

Juri Thomas Gatt, left, and Riccardo Schöpf of Austria celebrate their third place in the doubles men competition of the Luge World Cup in Winterberg, Germany, Sunday Jan. 11, 2026. (David Inderlied/dpa via AP)

Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt of Germany celebrate their victory in the doubles men competition of the Luge World Cup in Winterberg, Germany, Sunday Jan. 11, 2026. (David Inderlied/dpa via AP)

Kaillie Armbruster Humphries of the USA in action, during the Women's Mono-Bob World Cup, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (Mayk Wendt/Keystone via AP)

Kaillie Armbruster Humphries/Jasmine Jones o thef USA in action during the Women's 2-Bob World Cup, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Mayk Wendt/Keystone via AP)