Chinese Valentine’s Day Qi Xi Festival – Chinese culture for kids series. Exploring world culture with festivals is a great way to blend target language learning with culture.
Chinese Valentine’s Day is Qi Xi 七夕. The legend is that you scab ee a bridge formed by “magpies” xǐ què 喜鵲 (traditional Chinese) | 喜鹊 (simplified Chinese) in the night sky on the day of 七夕 Qi Xi. Qi Xi is the evening of the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. What is the date for Qi Xi?
2025 – August 29 | 2024 – August 10 | 2023 – August 22
Is it raining?
What does it mean when it rains on this day?
Chinese Valentine’s Day Qi Xi is known as Tanabata in Japan, Chilseok in Korea, and That Tich in Vietnam.
Daughter’s Day
Traditionally, Qi Xi started as Daughter’s Day. It is an important day for girls.
Families pray to star Vega which represents 織女|织女 zhī nǚ (weaver girl) and wish for crafty hands, intelligence, and good health for the girls in the family. This festival began during the Han dynasty (206BC-220AD). The regional tradition of Chinese Valentine’s Day Qi Xi 七夕 varies in China.
A Love Story
The story behind 七夕 Qi Xi is the love story of 牛郎 Niú láng (cowherd) on earth and 織女 zhī nǚ (weaver girl), the fairy weaver girl. The star for 牛郎 Niú láng (cowherd) is Altair and the star for zhī nǚ (weaver girl) is Vega.
The story goes like this…
The fairy weaver girl is the youngest of the Goddess’s seven daughters. She came down to the earth. The young girl had fun with her sisters by the water but she didn’t return with her siblings. She got left behind.
She fell in love with the cowherd and stayed on earth. The goddess was furious and ordered the fairy to return to heaven and separated the weaver girl from the cowherd.
The lovers’ tears dropped down from the sky as rain and the magpies were touched by the love and devotion of the two and formed a bridge for them to unite on the milky way. Jade Emperor was also moved by 牛郎 Niú láng (cowherd) and 織女 zhī nǚ (weaver girl) and decided to allow the two to see each other once a year on the 7th day of the 7th month.
The Qi Xi Festival resources I include here are a well-known Chinese song performed by Bon Jon Jovi and by the original singer, Teresa Deng. Furthermore, I have selected one video of the Qi Xi festival in English and another one telling the story in Chinese with Chinese subtitles.
Activities to go with this cultural topic
1. Have the kids follow the song and sing 月亮代表我的心 = Yuè liàng dài biǎo wǒ de xīn. Create a storyboard for the song.
2. Listen to the story and discuss the story of Qi Xi. Is there an equivalent or a similar story in a different culture?
3. Ribbon dance fun at home or in class. See the video of the ribbon dance performed by a 9-year-old girl below.
Bon Jon Jovi sings the Chinese classic pop song, 月亮代表我的心 Yuè liàng dài biǎo wǒ de xīn for his Chinese-speaking audience on Chinese Valentine’s Day. He did such a great job singing this song! Your students will be inspired to sing this song along with Bon Jovi. There are 37 unique Chinese characters in this song. As usual, many Chinese words in the lyrics are high-frequency words.
A song is a story. Stories are enchanting. There are two no-prep printable teaching resources for Qi Xi.
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Song Lyrics in traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, pinyin, and English translation.
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Chinese Reader: A Short Story of Qi Xi in Chinese
Chinese for Kids: Sing a Chinese Song with Jon Bon Jovi
月亮代表我的心 = Yuè liàng dài biǎo wǒ de xīn – The Moon Represents My Heart.
This song is originally performed by 鄧麗君[邓丽君]= Dèng lì jūn, Teresa Deng in Taiwan. Teresa broke the barrier between Taiwan and China years ago with her beautiful voice. This video has lyrics in Pinyin and simplified Chinese characters. Try it with kids of all ages!
Sing a Chinese Song – lyrics in pinyin and simplified Chinese characters
Story Time – Story of Qi Xi with audio in English.
Story of Qi Xi in Mandarin with subtitles in Traditional Chinese Characters.
Culture Activity: Chinese Ribbon Dance
Cultures That Have Similar Cultural Festivals Like Qi Xi or Valentine’s Day
1. Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the U.S., UK, France (La Saint-Valentin), Italy (La Festa degli Innamorati), and Spain (Dia de los Enamorados).
2. Japan celebrates White Day on March 14 and it is similar to Valentine’s Day in the U.S. Do you know South Korea also celebrates White Day?
3. Brazil has its version of Valentine’s Day and it is called Dia dos Namorados. It is celerated on June 12.
4. Iran has the festival of Mehregan, a celebration of love, friendship, and the autumn harvest. This festival usually falls during late September or early October.
5. Thailand celebrates the festival of Loy Krathong. It is in November and is a celebration of love and the end of the monsoon season. The tradition is that couples often float lotus-shaped offerings on rivers and lakes to symbolize their love and let go of any negative feelings. Is that a lovely tradition?
6. Finland has the festival of Juhannus. It is also known as Midsummer and it is celebrated in late June. It’s a time for couples to express their love and appreciation for each other and to enjoy the summer solstice.
7. Last but not lease, we want to touch on India. You may know the Hindu festival of Holi which is also known as the Festival of Colors. This cultural festival comes late February or early March. Do you know it is a celebration of spring and a celebration of love?
I hope you enjoy the story of Chinese Valentine’s Day – Qi Xi 七夕, all the activities and learning more about Valentine’s Day around the world. Be curious and explore further!
Happy Qi Xil! = 七夕快樂！= Qī xì kuài lè!
Video resource courtesy of YouTube and its original copyright owners.