Chinese Valentine's Day at Beijing Park

Visitors take pictures of colorful umbrellas in Yuanmingyuan Park, which are set for celebration of Qixi Festival. [Photo by Chen Xi/For China Daily]

The Yuanmingyuan Park in Beijing launched a weeklong celebration of the traditional Chinese festival Qixi on Saturday.

Qixi, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, will be celebrated on Aug 7 this year. Dubbed as Chinese Valentine's Day in modern times, the festival's origin in Chinese mythology suggests it was observed as a day when Niulang and Zhinyu, a separated couple, reunited once a year.

Visitors take pictures of colorful umbrellas in Yuanmingyuan Park, which are set for celebration of Qixi Festival. [Photo by Chen Xi/For China Daily]

Now, it is also a day to showcase handicrafts such as needlework.

During the weeklong celebration, areas of the park that include the ruins of a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) royal resort are decorated with colorful umbrellas. Visitors are able to experience folk games like paper folding and tangram. Many cultural souvenirs are also set to be released there this week.

The event is a highlight of the park's ongoing 24th annual lotus festival, which runs through Aug 20. More than 300 varieties of the flower bloom across nearly 70 hectares of the park.

Children participate in various events experiencing folk art for the celebration like drawing on paper umbrellas. [Photo by Chen Xi/For China Daily]

A visitor writes her wish for good fortune. [Photo by Chen Xi/For China Daily]