Tourists celebrate Chinese Valentine's Day on Mount Wutai

Lovers swamped Mount Wutai to pray for love and happiness on Aug 20, 2015, the day of the Qixi Festival, often known as Chinese Valentine's Day.

Qixi Festival is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar, and falls on Aug 20 this year. According to traditional Chinese folklore, it is the day when the Weaver Girl (Zhinu) and Cowherd (Niulang) can finally reunite for a night after a year's separation.

Mr. Zhang from the city of Shijiazhuang said: "Today is Valentine's Day, and I arranged the trip with my girlfriend carefully. The blue sky and beautiful temples are amazing and we would like to stay for a few more days."

In the first half of the year, Mount Wutai made huge progress on its scenic spot and everything is in order. With the arrival of summer, Mount Wutai, one of the world's five holy Buddhist shrines as well as the most famous Buddhist Mountain in China, is attracting domestic and foreign tourists.

In addition, family visits doubled. 268,334 tickets were sold in July alone, a year-on-year increase of 88.36 percent.

By Huang Pei

Edited by Andrew Ancheta