How To Celebrate China's Valentine Day

A couple holding their marriage certificates pose for photos at a marriage registration center on 14 February 2019 in Qingdao, Shandong Prov...

A couple holding their marriage certificates pose for photos at a marriage registration center on 14 February 2019 in Qingdao, Shandong Province of China.(Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

On the annual day of love, known across most of the world as Valentine's Day, traditions in are fairly straightforward. Whenever 14 February comes around, chocolates, flowers or other gifts are often exchanged to show affection to one another. However, in Asia, the event is celebrated with slightly different twists -- some bachelors and bachelorettees even celebrate a lack of love. 

From swapping house roles, paddy water racing while carrying the girlfriend on the back to star-crossed lovers or getting married en masse, here are some of the most interesting Valentine's Day. The Qixi Festival, also known as the Double Seventh Festival or Qiqiao Festival, is the most romantic of all traditional Chinese holidays. It’s a time to celebrate star-crossed lovers with grand romantic gestures, boxes of chocolates and the singles go for a wild and weird shopping extravaganza in longing for the true love.


Chinese shoppers have been spending more for their loved ones ahead of Valentine's Day, igniting the festive domestic market. Gift-givers, in the hope of wooing their love interests, are increasingly turning to online shopping, as data from major digital retailers showed a roaring demand for flowers in the days before 14 Feb.  Sending flowers is a time-honored tradition to celebrate the romantic day. In just three days, 500,000 roses and tulips from plantations in southwest China's Yunnan Province have been snapped up on Alibaba's group-buying service Juhuasuan.

Meanwhile, orders for flowers grew by 69 percent on Alibaba's Taobao marketplace, with orders for roses up 220 percent. Flower sales soared 339 percent on another e-commerce giant JD.com over the same period. Preserved fresh flowers, bouquets in boxes and mixed-color roses were the top three best selling products. Shoppers are also linking their Taobao accounts with those of their sweethearts as a new way to spread their love. Over 12 million couples have linked their accounts together over the past year, according to Taobao. Alibaba officially rolled out the new function "relative account" on 01 February 2018, which allows its users to pay for each other.

Young men of Bouyei ethnic group carry their girlfriends on the backs as they compete in a rice paddy race to celebrate the Bouyei traditional's Valentine's Day at Wangmo County on 05 October 2018 in Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao-Guizhou China.Photo: He Junyi/China News Service.

For Xie Minchao from the eastern city of Suzhou, it is heart-warming and special to fulfill his girlfriend's wishes online. Xie linked his account with his girlfriend's just ahead of Valentine's Day. "We work in different cities and talk about new and funny things with each other every day," he said. With their accounts now connected, they can share real-time information on the Taobao app. Every time Xie found a cool product on Taobao, he would forward the link to his girlfriend, asking for her advice. It has been a great conversation starter for the couple. Sometimes he would purchase the items of the links she sent to him. "It's ceremonial that we help fulfil each other's wishes," he said. Couples exchanging presents this year prefer premium brands.

      Modern Chinese younger lovers celebrate Valentine Day every year same as Qixi Festival. 

Leading online retailer Suning.com reported a 76.5 percent rise in sales of imported cosmetics, with MAC, Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior on the best-selling list. The percentage of males who bought imported lipsticks went up from 38 percent to 58 percent in the past few days, according to Suning.com. Many shoppers picked up presents like Givenchy Le Rouge lipsticks, chocolates and music boxes with a "gifts" function on the Taobao app, sending out their sweet surprises online. People are also expressing love by emptying their partner's shopping cart. JD.com saw a huge increase in orders for products like Dyson hair dryers, four-leafed clover bracelets, skin care products, and smartphones.

Valentine's Day gifts of special interest -- a handcrafted book with personal photos or useful household supplies -- are also more attractive to Chinese consumers. In their everyday conversation via the Taobao app, Xie knows what his girlfriend wants. He plans to surprise her with a four-leafed clover necklace. Besides 14 Feb, lovers across China celebrate the traditional Chinese Valentine's Day, or the Qixi Festival, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. The coming Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month, is also an important day for Chinese couples. In ancient times, young men and women usually went out into the streets and met each other on the day when the curfew was lifted.

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