Across China: China's annual love-in transcends mere shoppin

BEIJING, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese people embrace their own "Valentine's Day" Tuesday, when lovers send each other gifts or have romantic candlelit meals together.

"Qixi" is a traditional Chinese festival on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. It is based on a 2,000-year-old legend of two lovers, Niu Lang and Zhi Nu, separated by a river, who can only meet once a year when a flock of magpies forms a bridge for them.

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