The Qixi Festival, on the seventh day of the seventh month in the Chinese lunar calendar, has been treated by some people as the Chinese Valentine’s Day in the recent years. Actually, it was also a festival for girls and children back in old times.
The Qixi Festival fell on Aug 9 this year. In the morning, some people in Nanjing took their children to visit the Heyi Academy on Shanxi Road, where they could experience the festival in the traditional way. The children and their parents, dressing up in Han-style costumes, participated in worship ritual, late-summer flower casting and other traditional activities.
The head of the Academy said that the event aimed at protecting the ancient but wonderful living traditions from disappearing, and bringing the traditional folk custom alive in our daily life.
