Chinese Valentine's Day: How young people are finding love and sex in a Covid world
Many young people in China had worried that today's festival of Qixi - "Chinese Valentine's Day"- would be a socially distanced, non-event in the wake of the pandemic.
They needn't have fretted. In China, socialising is back to normal - and so is the business of Qixi, with couples going out for romantic dinners, and shops offering sales promotions for lovers seeking gifts. Hugs are back on, and no one is elbow pumping - although some of the festival's traditional "kiss contests" might not have made the cut.
Cinemas, which reopened a few weeks ago, have already reported Qixi sales of 330 million yuan (£36 million) - the highest since the pandemic. Movies like Love You Forever, a romantic comedy about time-travel (also showing in West End cinemas) was premiered for release today, alongside the blockbuster The Eight Hundred.
While some restrictions remain at indoor venues, and handheld temperature checks are being used, most outdoor measures have been abandoned.
Mass public gatherings have resumed in cities, with no social distancing restrictions or requirements to wear masks. Beijing moved to the lowest risk category "green" last week, removing all outdoor restrictions - despite a "second wave" spike in the capital.
Even dating is booming, with many young people firing their match-making apps back up in search of love and sex. Not that the latter necessarily went away - Anthony Tao, an editor at news platform SupChina, has heard rumours that many people were secretly getting together even during lockdown.
"I heard on the grapevine there was a lot of hooking up when everyone was inside," he says. "I think people tried to recapture what normality they could".
With much of China shut down due to coronavirus days before Chinese New Year on the January 23, the festival of Qixi is the first celebration of romance with few restrictions this year. Even the Western Valentine's Day on Febraury 14, which is often marked in China, came at the height of lockdown and saw singletons dating over video apps and couples resorting to virtual candlelit dinners and even weddings.
It’s no wonder, then, that queues have been forming at the marriage registry offices across China today. For many, Qixi is considered a lucky day to wed.
"2020 has really been an extraordinary year and it's coincidental that we'd decided to get married this year, and also on Qixi," said one groom marrying today in Beijing's Fengtai district. "With a pandemic like this both on a national and personal level we've actively fought it, and whatever difficulties we two face in the future we know we can get to the end of the tunnel."
Previously we'd thought about coming to get our marriage certificates on June 26th, that's the day we first met, but then there was a second wave so we postponed it and luckily August is also a good date and Qixi festival," saif another.
While a third couple simply added: "We love each other more, and value each other more because of the pandemic"
Qixi is based on folklore. The story goes that a farmer known as Niulang, or "cow herder boy," fell in love with a goddess's daughter, known as "weaver girl" (Zhinü). The two married and lived happily on Earth, but when the Goddess of Heaven found out her daughter had married a mortal, she created a river in the sky, known as the "Milky way", to divide heaven and Earth and to separate the two lovers. Their tale was so moving that each year on the seventh of the seventh month, birds would fly to the heavens and link up to form a bridge over the Milky way so the couple could meet.
The festival has its roots in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and is also celebrated in countries like Japan, Korea. It has become increasingly more commercialised in recent years, especially given the comparisons with the Western Valentine's Day.
Young women go out and about wearing period costumes in a revival of traditional "Hanfu'' fashion - mainly floaty dresses - on a day that's all about folklore, celestial maidens and traditional crafts.
But while the Qixi fairytale is about love and freedom, the reality is that Chinese women have not been able to leave the house unaccompanied until the last 100 years.
Some were physically unable to, as wealthier households practised the custom of foot-binding on girls from childhood, meaning that sneaking out on dates was out of the question. Instead, the festival has long been dedicated to the mastery of women's "classical" skills, such as sewing, weaving, making garments or delicate pastries - all highly esteemed talents of a young lady.
Qiaoguo, which generally refers to small baked goods or sweets, with qiao meaning "artful", is still made and eaten on Qixi today, albeit mostly using moulds rather than handcrafted by demure young ladies.
Retailers are also making the most of the festival, with cafes introducing "Qixi Afternoon Tea". Each is finding their own way of expressing the story of Niuliang and Zhinü. One of my favourite chain restaurants in Beijing, The Soup Kitchen, is playing on the farming roots of the herder boy, by offering a corn-flavoured dessert and using the slogan "I Corn You".
Designer Chen Xing, who owns a boutique fashion brand Bifu in Beijing, has designed a unique Qixi dress that is a modern take on qipao. This iconic thigh-split dress epitomised socialite women during the early 1900s. Chen Xing says that since his shops reopened in mid-May, there has been a slow return of customers, many of whom are buying gifts for their partners.
The cafe attached to Chen's shop in the historical Qianmen quarter has introduced a special "couples Qixi afternoon tea". From highbrow brands to fast-food chains, similar menus are on offer for the romantic festival, including Mcdonald's which is selling a "pink breakfast wrap" of chicken, cheese and meatloaf this week.
And if that's not a sign that life is back to normal, what is?
