Qixi Festival means “7th Night” and falls on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month on the Chinese calendar.

In late summer, the stars Altair and Vega are high in the night sky.  And the love story that follows is about Niulang (Altair), the cowherd, and Zhinu (Vega), the 7th daughter of the Goddess of Heaven.

A young and lonely  cowherd, Niulang, came across 7 immortal fairy sisters bathing in a lake and fell in love with Zhinu.  They married without the knowledge of the Goddess of Heaven and had two children. 

But when the Goddess found out about the forbidden relationship between a mere mortal and a fairy girl, she pulled Zhinu back into the sky and Zhinu had to resume her former duty of weaving colourful clouds, a task she had neglected while living on earth with Niulang.

Niulang, with the help of his magic ox, carried his two children off to Heaven to find Zhinu.  When the Goddess found out, she became very angry.  So she took out her hairpin and the Goddess scratched a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever, thus forming the Milky Way between the stars, Altair (Niulang) and Vega (Zhinu).

Zhinu must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niulang and their two children (2 flanking stars) watches her from afar. 

But once a year all the magpies in the world would take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, which is the 7th night of the 7th moon. 

The Qixi Festival is also called “Chinese Valentine’s Day”.  It is celebrated in most Asian countries and this year it falls on  August 6th.