The heat is on

Niulang lived a sad lonely life, until one day the buffalo suddenly opened its mouth and told Niulang that days later seven goddesses would descend from heaven and take a bath in a pond not far from their home.

At the buffalo's help, Niulang stole the clothes of the youngest goddess Zhinyu, who was also the most beautiful, so that when it was time to go back to the heaven, Zhinyu was left behind. Somehow, Zhinyu fell in love with Niulang and married him.

They lived a legendary idyllic life. Niulang worked in the fields and Zhinyu weaved cloth at home and gave birth to a boy and a girl, until the business was found by Wangmu, the head of the goddesses. The old buffalo knew this scenario in advance, and told Niulang to keep its skin after it died.

One day, when Niulang was out, Zhinyu was seized and taken to heaven, leaving the two children at home. Niulang came back and found his wife had gone. He immediately put the children in two baskets, hung them on the two ends of a pole and shouldered it. The moment he donned the buffalo's skin, he started ascending in the air and chased after his wife.

Seeing he almost caught up with Zhinyu, Wangmu pulled out her golden hairpin and waved it in the dark sky. A tremendous river immediately appeared, separating them. The river in the sky was the Milky Way.

The emperor of heaven, touched by Niulang's perseverance, allowed the two to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month over a bridge formed by thousands of magpies. This day, Qixi, is a traditional Chinese festival dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220), evolving from Chinese ancient people's worship of the stars.

This year, Qixi will fall in the last five days of Dashu. In ancient times, it was a day when girls paid tribute to Zhinyu, the goddess excelling at needlework in charge of weaving clouds, praying for better skills and a good marriage. Nowadays, it has become Chinese Valentine's Day.