Heavy rain on Thursday morning failed to dampen sweet emotions as local lovebirds celebrated Qixi Festival, also known as Chinese Valentine’s Day, and flocked to marriage registration offices across Shenzhen to exchange vows.
A total of 559 couples had registered their marriages at Shenzhen’s registries by 6 p.m. Thursday, according to the city’s civil affairs bureau.
Qixi Festival, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh month on the Chinese lunar calendar, is a special Chinese festival devoted to love as it celebrates the annual rendezvous between the mythological figures of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
At about 8 a.m. Thursday, some couples were already lining up holding bouquets at the marriage registration office in Futian District. Some brides with beautiful makeup on wore elegant white dresses, while some chose to wear red traditional Chinese wedding dresses.
“Qixi is a traditional Chinese festival, and we hope to follow the love tradition,” a woman surnamed Chen told Shenzhen Daily at the Futian marriage registration office.
According to Chen, she and her husband made a reservation online 15 days in advance, as they knew many couples wanted to tie the knot on the special festival. “Scheduling the appointment was not successful in one go. We tried several times before we could secure one,” she said.
One couple, with the bride surnamed Hu and the groom surnamed Cao, said the pouring rain didn’t affect their mood that much. The duo brought a camera and a tripod to record their sweet moments. “It’s a memorable day to celebrate our love,” Cao said.
Florists, deliverymen and catering businesses also braced for a busy day on Qixi Festival.
In Xiangmihu Flower Wonderland, many florists had prepared rose bouquets and placed them in prominent positions at their stores, with some of the elaborately wrapped bouquets ready to be picked up by deliverymen.
“It is beyond question that we see a surge in flower sales on festivals, especially romantic ones,” said the owner of Red Day Flower in Xiangmihu Flower Wonderland while he was busy handling online orders.
Deliverymen were seen either on the way to florists or to customers. A deliveryman surnamed Zhong told Shenzhen Daily that he had received 15 flower delivery orders on Thursday morning alone.
According to statistics from the J Shop, JD.com’s fashion and lifestyle unit, sales of lipsticks, gold jewelry, watches, fashionable jewelries and perfumes all skyrocketed during its Qixi Festival promotional event from July 24 to 29.
Data from Meituan, a Chinese e-commerce platform, showed that Shenzhen was one of the five cities in the country that saw the most prebooked dine-in orders for Qixi Festival.