Cultural Valentines Day

CULTURAL 

LOVE IS EVERYWHERE

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

Love's Philosophy

And the sunlight clasps the earth

And the moonbeams kiss the sea:

What are all these kissings worth,

 If thou kiss not me.

Valentine's Day 

Two legends about the origin of Valentine's Day

Every meal is a confession of love.

目录 DIRECTORY

02

12

It is a day filled with romantic atmosphere all over the world, and people spend it in their own special way during the rare festival.

The origin of China

Niu Lang and Zhi Nu

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.

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.

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.

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.

Faraway Altair

Parted Lovers

Far, far away, the Cowherd, Fair, fair, the Weaving Maid;

Nimbly move her slender white fingers, Click-clack goes her weaving-loom.

All day she weaves, yet her web is still not done.

And her tears fall like rain. Clear and shallow the Milky Way,

They are not far apart! 

And, gazing at each other, they cannot speak.

LOVE

Valentine's Day is the most anticipated day of the year for couples. It is a day filled with romantic atmosphere all over the world, and people spend it in their own special way during the rare festival.

02

    

Spain

About 

Valentine's Day

Christian

      tradition

Valentine’s day is celebrated annually on February 14. On this day, people exchange greeting cards and presents in the name of love and St. Valentine, which is why it is also known as St. Valentine’s Day or the Feast of St. Valentine.

In the Christian tradition, there were several martyred saints with the name Valentine or Valentinus. According to legend, one of these Valentines was a priest who went against the orders of Roman Emperor Claudius II by conducting marriages between soldiers and their loved ones. These actions ultimately led to his execution. However, before being put to death, St. Valentine cured his jailer’s daughter from blindness and fell in love with her. His last communication with her was a letter signed “From your Valentine,” and this marked the very first Valentine greeting. 

To honor him, Pope Gelasius I made February 14 St. Valentine’s Day in 496 AD.

Some believe the choice of this particular date was an effort by the Christians to curb the celebration of a pagan fertility festival called Lupercalia. Taking place between the 13th and 15th of the month, the festival honored a Roman god and the founders of Rome through rituals of sacrifice and feasting.

06

07

The custom of Valentine's Day in the United States is very artistic. Admiring men and women give each other "Valentine" cards. Private Americans like to go to the outer suburbs to enjoy their own world in the sunrise, the sunset, and the stars.

On Valentine's Day in Japan, couples gather at the foot of Mount Fuji to ring the "Bell of love" and say each other's names three times to ensure their lasting love. Meanwhile, on February 14, it is usually women who present chocolates to men, which are divided into "Giri chocolates" to express gratitude for the care of a male classmate, colleague or boss, and "Jinmi chocolates" to express admiration for a male. White Day, on March 14, is reciprocated by men.

On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, Chinese people celebrate the Qixi Valentine's Day. The Qixi Festival comes from the story of the Cowhand and the Weaver girl who were forced to separate the two sides of the Milky Way due to forbidden love. Every year on Qixi, magpies in the sky turn into a magpie bridge for the two to meet, which later became the custom of lovers meeting on the bridge.

     

If you're planning a trip to Barcelona, Spain, in April, you'd better catch Saint George's Day on April 23. Since it's Valentine's Day in Barcelona, you can try something different. In Barcelona, St. George's Day is also known as "The Day of the Rose" and "the Day of Reading." On this day, a boy in Barcelona will give a girl a flower, and a girl will give a boy a book. The streets are filled not only with flower stalls selling red roses, but also with book stalls one after another. Flowers and books, love and knowledge, soul mates and spiritual food, this is Valentine's Day in Barcelona.

Denmark

anonymous letters and eggs

In Denmark, men will write anonymous letters to the woman they love, without signing the letter or only writing certain symbols and letters. If the woman guesses the love, then the Easter man will give the woman an egg. If the woman guesses wrong, she will give the man an egg.

Spain

El Dia de la Rosa

In France, for couples, there is a great place to love in Paris: the Love Wall. In a small street park halfway up a hill in Montmartre, north of Paris, there is a 40-square-meter wall made up of 511 oblong dark blue tiles covered in 311 languages and handwriting with the same words: "I love you." On Valentine's Day, couples gather here to kiss, take pictures and show their love without any qualms.

France

a wall full of love

Special food for Chinese Valentine's Day

Qiao fruit is one of the festival food, also called Tanabata fruit, Qiqiao fruit. It is not a kind of fruit, but with flour, oil, sugar, honey to make a variety of patterns related to the Qixi legend, and then fried into a pastry. Ancient women want to marry before they are clever, with the way to eat clever fruit "Qiqiao", hope Weaver can give yourself a pair of skilled hands.

Snails and oysters

Dinner is the quintessential French meal, and the snails and oysters are eaten exquisitely without any impact on makeup or outfit, just to make it easier for the eyes to flirt.

Bread

Baking bread is very common, but on Valentine's Day, the French, who are known as the most romantic people, will make their own or pre-order bread for their lovers. While the scent of roses wafts across the streets, the scent of bread on Valentine's Day makes French women's faces more tender. Ordered a week or even months in advance, these Valentine's Day loaves are not the usual French bread, but rather the fluffier kind.

Eating Wuzi

 Wuzi is essential in the sacrificial offerings of "Weaver Girl" on the Tanabata Festival (melon seeds, flower, ox, red date, longan, hazelnut)

Qiao fruit 

  Fench Special food

Japan

CHOCOLATE

The Valentine's Day culture of giving chocolate to express one's heart has been carried forward by Japan. Since the 1950s, there has been a custom in Japan that "women give chocolate on February 14 to express their love to the man". If the man also wants to give chocolate to the woman on March 14, "White Day", and eventually they will be married.

Speaking of Valentine's Day food in Italy, it is bound to be associated with the classic Italian dessert -- Tiramisu. In the original Italian text, Tira means pull, Mi means me and Su means upward. Therefore, this dessert can also be translated as Take me away, representing the yearning for romance and passionate love, which can be regarded as the best seasonal food on Western Valentine's Day. Sweet with cocoa aroma and slight bitter, like the taste of love, and lovers enjoy special happiness.

Tiramisu

     

   

Steak with red wine

The classic Western food is the steak set meal. On Valentine's Day, when you go to a western restaurant to have a steak set meal with your loved one, you can not only feel the warm dining atmosphere of the restaurant, but also enjoy the delicious western food, which is really a special romantic feeling. If you pair the steak with a glass of red wine or white wine, it will improve the taste of the steak. It can also add to the atmosphere of Valentine's Day.

heart-shaped Yorkshire beef pudding

The British celebrate Valentine's Day by sending sweets and flowers, hand-woven gloves and eating Yorkshire beef pudding, which is specially shaped like a heart on Valentine's Day.

  American Special food

 British Special food

     

may be the usual enthusiasm, the Spanish in this day, the performance is more calm. A Valentine's Day meal with paella is basic, with a bouquet of roses to make it a holiday.

Different from Western Valentine's Day, Brazilian Valentine's Day is set in winter on June 12. People will hold a bonfire party to celebrate Valentine's Day, dance samba on the beach, eat charcoal barbecue, and couples will present tropical phalaenopsis orchid to express their love.

South Korea's Valentine's Day and Japan, with the custom of gift, return gift, only more special is that South Korea's Valentine's Day culture considerate thought of the golden single, will be set on April 14 for single people's exclusive black Valentine's Day, single friends will meet together to eat black fried sauce noodles to commemorate friendship.

Paella

Barbecue

BLACK FRIED SAUCE NOODLES