The Qixi Festival, also known as the Begging Festival, is a Chinese festival that celebrates the annual meeting of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl in Chinese mythology. It falls on the 7th day of the 7th month on the Chinese lunar calendar. It is sometimes called the Double Seventh Festival, the Chinese Valentine's Day, the Night of Sevens, or the Magpie Festival.

Many different stories lay claim to being the origin of the festival, but one version is the most popular and accepted.

The youngest daughter of the Queen of the Heaven, the Weaver Girl was a fairy who weaved rosy clouds in the sky. She became tired of the boring immortal life and decided to descend to the earth. She met and fell in love with a cowherd.

The Queen of the Heaven strongly objected to the couple's union. She pulled out her hairpin, with a sweep of her hand and created the Milky Way, separating them on both sides of it, and only allowing them to meet once a year. Despite that, the distance could not stop their love for one another.

They still love each other and look forward to meeting once a year on the 7th day of the 7th Chinese lunar month. Every year during the Qixi Festival, magpies fly to the sky and build a bridge with their bodies in order to allow the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd to cross the Milky Way and meet each other. Therefore, magpies are also a symbol of love.

(By Yang Jiming/Qi Qian)