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'Hot' Chinese Festivals

In Chinese Buddhism , Kwan-yin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, is often depicted holding a lotus flower or reclining among them. The blooming lotus in ponds and moats signifies that the Buddhists' prayers to the Dragon King (the God of Rain) have been answered and that there will be sufficient moisture for an abundant harvest.

The lotus is also a popular symbol of purity in Chinese folklore, representing the ability to distance oneself from vulgarity.

 Double-Seventh Day

Double-Seventh Day refers to the seventh day of the seventh month on the Chinese lunar calendar, which falls on August 22 of the Gregorian calendar this year. It is also known as "Praying For Ingenuity Festival" and "Chinese Valentine's Day".

Double-Seventh Day is known as a special day for lovers. And almost everyone in China -- young and old -- is very familiar with the story behind this festival: The Cowherd and Girl Weaver.

Girl Weaver, the Heavenly Emperor's favorite daughter, fell in love with a poor earthly cowherd. Their secret marriage, however, enraged the Heavenly Empress, who broke up the couple and installed the Milky Way to keep them apart. The lovers could therefore only meet once a year -- on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

In ancient times, Double-Seventh Day was a famous festival among young women. On the day before the festival, young ladies left a bowl of clean water in the shining sun for a whole day. The following morning, they floated a needle or a thin culm on the water's surface. If the shadow was of the original object's shape, then the lady was considered ingenious -- an important virtue for a woman -- and vice versa.

Rich families set up a decorative "Tower of Praying for Ingenuity" in their courtyards, where their girls would pray for top sewing or cooking skills. The girls would gather together and gaze into the star-filled night, each holding a needle and thread behind their backs. The first girl to succeed in threading the needle was considered the most ingenious. Young girls also displayed their homemade carved melons, cookies and other delicious treats, to show their ingenuity.


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