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　　The story of Chinese Valentine’s Day teaches us true love is worth waiting for

　　相约七夕节：真爱永无止境

　　Qi Xi—commonly referred to as Chinese Valentine’s Day—happens on Aug. 28 this year (it takes place on the seventh day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar). The festival celebrates a nearly 2,000-year-old fairy tale originating from the Han Dynasty.

　　七夕节，通常也叫中国情人节，将在今年的8月28日(每年农历七月初七)到来。这个节日是为了庆祝大约2000年前，一个发生在汉朝的神话故事。

　　The origin

　　节日起源

　　The story goes that Zhi Nu, a goddess renowned for her weaving skills, went to the mortal world and met a cow herder named Niu Lang. The two fell in love, got married, and had two children. But when Zhi Nu’s mother, the queen mother of heaven, found out about their union, she became upset and angry, taking Zhi Nu back to heaven.

　　故事讲述的是，一位以织造技艺而闻名的仙女织女来到人间，遇见了一个叫牛郎的放牛娃，两人互生爱意，私自结婚，生了两个孩子。但好景不长，织女的母亲王母娘娘发现了他们的结合，勃然大怒，强行把织女带回了天上。

　　Niu Lang was heartbroken. But an old cow that Niu Lang had once rescued revealed that he was actually a god injured in the mortal world and offered him his skin once he died. He told Niu Lang his leather could be used to make shoes that could fly him to heaven.

　　牛郎上天无路，很伤心。这时牛郎曾经救过的一只老牛透露，它其实是一个在人间受伤的灰牛大仙，它死后会把自己的皮留给牛郎。它告诉牛郎，它的皮可以做成鞋子，穿着就可以飞上天。

　　When the cow died, Niu Lang made an attempt to find Zhi Nu with their children, but the queen mother of heaven used her hair pin to create a river of stars that would become the Milky Way to separate the two lovers. Their cries touched the magpies so much that thousands of them formed a bridge for the couple to walk over the river. Eventually, the queen mother relented and agreed to let the couple meet one night out of every year on Qi Xi, which means the seventh night, which they do with the help of their magpie friends.

　　老牛死后，牛郎按照老牛的话做了，拉着自己的儿女，一起上天追织女，眼看就要追到，岂知王母娘娘拔下头上金簪一挥，一条波涛汹涌的银河出现，把这对恋人分隔两岸。他们只能相对哭泣，哭声感动了喜鹊，成千上万只喜鹊飞来，搭成了一座桥，让牛郎织女走上鹊桥相会。最后，在喜鹊的帮助下，王母娘娘妥协了，允许这对夫妇每年在七夕的晚上相会，也即农历七月的第七个夜晚。

　　How it’s celebrated

　　风俗习惯

　　Qi Xi has since come to symbolize true love. In ancient times, girls would offer fruits and food to Zhi Nu on the night of the festival, praying for skillful hands like the goddess’s to weave with so they can find their ideal husbands. Children would also pick up wild flowers to hang on an ox’s horns in memory of the cow-god who sacrificed himself.

　　自那以后，七夕就成为了真爱的象征。在古时候，女孩们会在七夕晚上摆设水果和食物祭祀织女，祈求自己的双手能像织女那样灵巧，这样她们就能找到理想的丈夫。孩子们也会采摘野花挂在牛角上，以纪念牺牲的牛神。

　　Festivals across greater China today celebrate a variety of different traditions in honor of Qi Xi. In China’s southeastern city Shaoxing , girls hide in pumpkins farms, believing those who can hear the whispers of Niu Lang and Zhi Nu would find love soon. In Hunan province , women fetch water from the mountains. Believing it to be holy, they wash their hair with so they can be blessed by Zhi Nu. Some even collect dew—symbolizing tears from the couple—in the early morning following Qi Xi, believing that drinking it would make them smarter. In Taiwan, people release floating lanterns into the sky to make wishes for love.

　　现在，中国各地都有不同的风俗庆祝方式，以纪念七夕。在中国东南部城市绍兴，女孩们偷偷躲在南瓜地里，倘若能听到牛郎织女相会时的悄悄话，日后便能很快找到如意郎君。在湖南，妇女从山上取水，他们认为七夕的水很神圣，用来洗头发就可以得到织女的祝福。有些人甚至在七夕清晨收集露水——这象征着牛郎织女相会时的眼泪——他们相信喝完它会变得眼明手快。在台湾，人们向天空中释放孔明灯，为爱情许愿。

　　Confusingly, Qi Xi isn’t the only Valentine’s Day that Chinese people celebrate. They also celebrate love on Feb. 14 as well as the Lantern Festival (also sometimes called Chinese Valentine’s Day in English), which takes place over the Lunar New Year. But like the Western holiday, these days of love have become commercialized by hotels, chocolate companies, flowers vendors, and their ilk.

　　令人困惑的是，七夕节并不是中国人庆祝的唯一一个情人节。他们和欧美国家一样在2月14日庆祝爱情，同样还在农历新年期间的元宵节庆祝爱情(有时也被称为“中国情人节”)。但就像西方的节日一样，这些庆祝爱情的节日已经被酒店、巧克力公司、鲜花店等商业化了。