<div dir="ltr">Hey AAAers,<br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div><br><div>Did you know that today is <font color="#c27ba0"><b>Valentines Day</b></font> in several Asian countries?</div><div><br></div><div><b><font size="6">Qixi</font></b>, <br>
</div><div>also know as <i>Double Seventh Festival</i>, <i>Chinese Valentine's Day</i>, or the <i>Magpie Holiday</i>, celebrates the <b>annual meeting of the cowherd and weaver girl</b> in Chinese mythology. Qixi falls on the <b>7th day of the 7th month</b> of the Chinese lunar calendar. And <font color="#a64d79">today happens to be that day!</font></div>
<div><br></div><div><b>Here's a short version of the myth</b><b>:</b></div><div>Some time 2000+ years ago, a cowherder called Niu-lang ("cow-guy") and a weaver called Zhi-nu ("weaver-girl") fell in love. Zhinu was a weaver of clouds and the daughter of the Jade Emperor, the Daoist ruler of heaven, and Wangmu, the queen of heaven. The two star-crossed lovers fell in love and were married, but their relationship was met with disapproval by Zhinu's parents. After all, they were all divine and Niulang was just a lowly human cow herder. Wangmu separated the two with a swift move of her hairpin, creating a river in the sky (what we know as the Milky Way!). Niulang (the star Altair) and Zhinu (the star Vega) were devastated, and eventually the queen took pity on them and gave them one night of the year to spend together, which created the annual Qixi holiday. On Qixi, the queen sends magpies to bridge the celestial gap between the lovers.</div>
<div><br></div><div><div><img src="cid:ii_1407361839714e35" alt="Inline image 1" width="420" height="314"><br></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b>So what do Chinese people do on Qixi?</b></div><div>In the modern day, people usually use this as a chance to buy gifts for their sweethearts, or spend a nice date on with their lovers.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Anyways, happy Qixi and <font color="#a64d79">say something sweet to your loved ones</font> today!</div><div><br></div><div>With <font color="#a64d79" size="6">love</font><font color="#000000">,</font></div>
</div></div></div></div><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr">Kristen Wu<div>Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Class of 2016</div><div><br></div></div>
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