Marriage registration in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province boomed on the occasion of the Qixi Festival, the Double Seventh Festival or Chinese Valentine’s Day, which fell on Aug 7 this year.

Many people proposed, registered their marriage or confessed their feelings to their life partners on the special day, as they believed the day would bring them good fortune and a happy life.

A total of 4,071 couples in Heilongjiang that registered marriages on Aug 7 -- several times the number for normal working days.

Falling on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar, the Qixi Festival originated from a venerated legend about a couple that is more than 2,000 years old.

According to tradition, Niulang and Zhinyu, one a cowherd and the other a fairy, were lovers. But their passion was not allowed and they were banished by the gods to opposite sides of the Silver River, symbolizing the Milky Way.

Once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, a flock of magpies would form a bridge to reunite the celestial couple for one day.

The festival has been an important day for young women in China for centuries. They often go to temples to pray to Zhinyu - the fairy who possessed intelligence and ingenuity - for wisdom and dexterity in needlework, a traditional skill for a good wife, as well as a happy marriage.

Couples read the oath at the Xiangfang district’s marriage registry in Harbin, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, on Aug 7. [Photo/chinanews.com]