The Seventh Evening Festival

The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the Seventh Evening Festival, also known as the "Double Seven Festival".

Origins: According to a romantic Chinese fairy tale, the cowherd and the weaving girl meet on the evening of the Double Seven. As such, the festival is also known as China's Valentine's Day. The fairy tale has it that the milky way separates the hard-working cowherd and the weaving girl, who are very deeply in love with each other. It is only on the Seventh Evening Festival that they can meet. On that evening, the world's magpies form a bridge over the Milky Way so that the lovers can cross over and meet. This beautiful tale has its origins in the Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220). All Chinese people are told the story when they are children. The festival is also based on an annual astronomical phenomenon. Every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, two particular stars are bright in the night sky and shine until the sun rises. One of the stars is thought to be the weaving girl and the other the cowherd.

Begging for skills: People have a custom of begging the weaving girl to teach them needlework and weaving skills on the Double Seven Festival. Girls hold weaving and needlework competitions on the day of the festival to see who has the quickest mind and the most skillful hands. As such, the Seventh Evening Festival is also called the "Begging for Skills Festival" or the "Daughters' Festival."

Praying for a good harvest: Another custom of the Seventh Evening Festival is praying to the Milky Way for a good harvest. Some places hold "Qingmiao" or "Young Crops" parties

This story was passed down through the generations as a romantic folktale, but it served another purpose as well. It admonished a largely agricultural people not to neglect their duties - be it in the fields or at the looms.

The Seventh Sister
For women in Guangdong and Fujian, the Double Seventh Festival was an extremely important day. They called it the Day of Prayer to the Seventh Sister. Women from all households threaded their needles under the moon that evening as a prayer for good needlework and embroidery skills. They also flung white powder into the sky, letting it fall on their faces as it descended. They hoped this act would bring them beauty and happiness in marriage. .