Chinese Valentine's Day festival underway in Chongqing

A cultural and tourism festival kicked off on Saturday night in Chongqing's Rongchang district to celebrate the Qixi Festival — also known as Chinese Valentine's Day — which falls on Tuesday.

The four-day event is being held in Wanling Ancient Town in Rongchang. Sixteen activities, including a fireworks show, an ancient wedding performance, a lovebirds' dinner and an intangible cultural heritage exhibition will be included.

In Chinese mythology, Qixi Festival — the seventh day of the seventh lunar month — celebrates the annual meeting of Niulang, a cowherd, and Zhinu, a weaver girl. In the legend, the two lovers travel across the Milky Way and walk down a bridge formed by magpies to reunite with each other.

The traditional festival to celebrate love falls on Aug 22 this year.

On that day, a "love museum" in the ancient town will be open to public. The museum collects tokens of love from the public, such as love letters and marriage certificates.