Pleading for skills on Qixi

Numerous young men and women celebrate the sweet Qixi Festival, or the Chinese Valentine’s Day. This festival, dating back to more than 2,000 years when the weaving girl and the cowboy fell in love, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar. It is regarded as the most romantic one among all the traditional Chinese festivals. Unmarried girls traditionally demonstrate their domestic arts on this day and make wishes for a good husband.

The most popular tradition on this day is for young girls to throw a sewing needle into a bowl full of water on the night as a test of embroidery skills. If the needle floats on top of the water instead of sinking, it proves the girl is a skilled embroideress. That is why we also call it Qiqiao Festival, which means to plead for skills on this day.