The seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is named Qixi, also known as China's Valentine's Day. In olden days, girls prayed for proficient embroidery skills and a happy marriage. The tradition of Qixi dates back 2,000 years ago. This festival is related to mythological figures of the cowherd(or Niulang) who raised cattle for a living and the Weaver(or Zhinv) who was the daughter of the celestial Queen Mother. They fell in love with each other, but because of the wide gap in social status, they were separated by the celestial Queen Mother. Fortunately, their love story moved all the people and they were permitted to reunite each other on the Magpie Bridge once a year. This day is then regarded as a symbol of love and happiness for Chinese people.

Shilin Global Geopark organized several activities for celebrating this festival. We conducted some ethnic performances especially associated with various artistic elements of romance to unveil touching love stories of Yi nationality and the contemporary people’s perspectives on love.          

We organized an interactive activity with 3 couples and one of them from Nanchang were over 80s. We invited them to wear the traditional costumes of Yi ethnic group and held a collective wedding based on the customs and traditions of Sani People.

During the wedding, there were some games like “finding the real bride”, “professing love for your brides”. After that, these old couples felt very happy to experience this traditional and meaningful wedding ceremony.

At the end of the ceremony, we gave away lots of roses to the visitors and encouraged them to express their love boldly.