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The Chinese Valentine's Day 2016
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2016 Chinese Valentine's Day is on August 9, 2106. Chinese Valentine's Day is on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month in the Chinese calendar. Therefore, it is also called Chinese Double Seven Festival. The formal name in Chinese is call |
The Stars
The star Vega (Weaving Maid) is the 5th brightest star in the sky. Therefore, it's very easy to find in the summer night. The size of Vega is 16 times bigger than the Sun. The temperature on its surface is more than 10,000 degrees. The brightness of Vega is 25 times brighter than the Sun. It's 25 light years away from the Earth.
The star Altair (Cowherd) is the 11th brightest star in the sky. Therefore, it's not difficult to find in the summer night. The size of Altair is 4 times bigger than the Sun. The temperature on its surface is about 8,000 degrees. The brightness of Altair is 11 times brighter than the Sun. It's 17 light years away from the Earth.
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There are two stars, Alshain and Tarazed, next to the Altair. They said those two stars on Altair's each side are the Cowherd's two children in the story. The distance between the Vega and the Altair is 16 light years. They cannot meet in the sky, as they are too far apart. In the story, there was a magpie's bridge for Weaving Maid and Cowherd to meet. Do you know the length of that bridge? Find Star Vega and Star Altair in the sky.
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The Festival
On the Chinese Valentine's Day, people in love like to go to the temple of Matchmaker and pray for their love and the possible marriage in China. People still single will do the same thing to ask their luck of love in the Matchmaker temple.
The Chinese Valentine's Day is also called The Daughter's Festival. Long ago, Chinese girls always wanted to train themselves having a good handcrafting skill like the Weaving Maid. The skill is essential for their future family. On that night, the unmarried girls may pray for the Weaving Maid star to let them become smarter. When the star Vega is high up in the sky, girls do a test, which is to put a needle on the water surface. If the needle doesn't sink, then girl is already smart enough and ready to find a husband. Girls may ask for any wish, but only one per year.
In some Chinese provinces, people believe that decorating the flowers on the ox's horn on the Chinese Valentine's Day enables to prevent from the disaster. On the night of Valentine's Day, women wash their hair to give it a fresh and shiny outlook. Children wash their face in the next morning of the Valentine's Day using the overnight water in their backyards to have a much more naturally beautiful appearance. Girls throw the five-color ropes, made atChinese Dragon Boat festival, on the roof for magpies. Magpies will carry ropes to build the bridge.