Happy Chinese Valentin's Day!

Here Comes Valentine's Day!

For all we know, Valentine’s Day is always on February 14th. For Chinese, they have their own V-day aside from the western lover’s day. Every Chinese person has two birthdays and can celebrate two Valentine’s days – according to the western solar calendar and the Chinese lunar calendar.

I love birthdays. I always make a big deal about celebrating birthdays. Sure, I am getting one year older. Just think about all the fun I can have at my birthday party! The only time you will catch me getting absolutely wild and wasted is at my birthday party! Usually, I reserve the lunar birthday for my family and that just doubles the fun of celebrating birthdays.

As for Valentine’s day, I hate to admit that I’m somewhat anti-lover’s day. I just avoid it. It must have been a curse or some sort. More often than not, my status quo remains single when the lover’s day comes around. Boyfriends come and go and I always fail to keep them around long enough ‘till the next Valentine’s day.

Couples in love cannot help but rub it in when they see single people on lover’s day. We know we are single but we don’t have to be reminded on a day like this. It only hurts more to see others go hand in hand, and celebrate it with flowers, chocolates and fancy dinners when we, the single ones, stay home and embrace HBO’s Sex and the City.

Chinese Love Story – The Origin of Long-Distance Relationship

All Chinese descents should be proud of our ancestor. Chinese is one of the oldest cultures in the world. Their inventions include papermaking, printing, gunpowder, and the mariner's compass, modern agriculture, shipping, astronomical observatories, decimal mathematics, paper money, umbrellas, multi-stage rockets, brandy and whiskey, the game of chess, and much more.

Chinese may not have a reputation as good lovers. They do have a romantic holiday and it falls on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month in the Chinese calendar. It’s Chinese Valentine’s day and this year, it happens to be on August 22.

There is an ancient story behind the romantic holiday. The love story is between a girl and a boy, Weaving Maid and Cowherd.

Weaving Maid was the seventh daughter of Emperor and she was good at handcrafting, especially weaving clothing. That’s the reason her father named her “Weaving Maid”. Everyday she would weave clouds and rainbows to beautify the world.

Weaving Maid and her six sisters came down from Heaven and she met Cowherd. They fell in love and started a family together.

The Emperor found the sky's not as beautiful as before since Weaving Maid was gone. He sent his mother to bring Weaving Maid back to Heaven. The grandmother made a milky way in the sky with her hairpin. The 7th princess was moved to the star Vega (The swooping - Eagle) in the Lyra (Harp) constellation. As for the cowherd and his two children, they stayed in the star Altair (Flying one) in the Aquila (Eagle) constellation. The star of Vega is known as the Weaving Maid Star and the star of Altair is as the Cowherd Star in China.

From then on, they were forever separated and the Emperor only allowed them to meet once a year on the day of 7th day of 7th lunar month.

If it rains on the Chinese Valentine's Day, some say that the rains are the tears of the Weaving Maid and Cowherd.

On this holiday, couples in love and single people go to the temples and pay respect to the God of Matchmaker. They pray for love, happiness and good prospects for marriage.

I suspect that Weaving Maid and Cowherd had the first so-called long distance relationship. They were forced to live apart and could only see each other once a year. Umm…this is definitely the origin of long-distance love!

What's Your Status?

If you are single like me, the chances are you probably avoid holidays like Valentine’s day. I know how you feel. You might feel sad because you don’t have that special someone to share the joy of lover’s day.

Get over it! Love is not only limited to relationship. Love between friends and family is also great love. I’m going to spend it with my family. Why not? My dad lives in China and I don’t see him very often. He just happens to be here this week. It’s a rare opportunity for a family dinner. Or you can round up a few good friends, plan a dinner out, and have a good time!

Keep a positive outlook! It has proven again and again. Finding true love is about TIMING. Yeah, timing…when the timing is right, relationships will progress smoothly and the rest will follow.

I always believe that there is more than one person out there for everyone. You have a few potentials to choose from as your Mr. Right / Mrs. Right.

Do not despair if you have been single for years. Good things come to those who wait. I know friends who waited for years before meeting THE ONE. Everyone I know who’s walked down the isle (some have done it more than once!) tells me that when true love comes along, you just know. Okay…I have no idea what that means. Obviously, that’s why my status remains single. Supposedly, it always happens when you’re least expecting it.

Enjoy your single life while you’re at it. The grass is always greener on the other side. Some people work so hard to find true love. Once they find what they’ve been looking for, they start missing ‘the good ole days’ because it’s different from their expectation.

When your time comes, just make sure you’re ready for it. Love cannot wait. If you contemplate too much, that special someone might slip away when you’re not looking. Go for it, make the best out of it, and see what true love might bring!