This year's Qixi festival, or Chinese Valentine's Day, falls on Wednesday, the annual date for a Chinese mythical couple to reunite on the bridge of magpies, or the Milky Way.
"We planned to stargaze by Namtso Lake on Qixi," Zhou said. "However, the weather is not in our favor. I'm a little bit worried."
Despite the forecasted rain and cloud, tourists have shown their enthusiasm in being stargazers on such a special day, as travel agencies reported a surge in the number of tourist groups to Namtso, Yamdrok Lake, base camp of Mt. Qomolangma and Ngari Prefecture, all of which are considered good destinations for stargazing.
China built its first dark night park in western Tibet's Ngari in 2014. With an altitude of 4,200 meters, the park sits about 25 km south of the town seat, and offers tents, an area for telescope observation and various facilities for tourists.
"Ngari's high altitude, low precipitation, high transparency, low humidity and pollution made it an ideal place for building a dark night park," said Yao Yongqiang, chief researcher of the National Astronomical Observatories.
To welcome incoming stargazers, the dark night park has built a special platform for meteor photographers, multiple high-power astronomical telescopes for astrophiles, and food, beds and introductory science films for tourists.
"It's just so irresistible to have intimate contact with the stars on the 'roof of the world'," Zhou said. "Where I live, seeing just a handful of stars is considered a luxury, never mind the Milky Way."
Tourism has become much more "niche" in Tibet, as more travellers have brought fresh ideas and demands in recent years, with stargazing a popular choice, said a travel agency manager surnamed Xu, who has been working in Lhasa for over a decade.
Tibet received over 13.4 million Chinese and international tourists from January to June, up 20.2 percent year on year, generating a revenue of about 15 billion yuan (2.1 billion U.S. dollars), according to official statistics.
The Google Doodle on 7 August celebrated the Qixi Festival, a romantic tradition that originated from Chinese culture over 2,000 years ago. On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the stars Altair and Vega appear close together in the night sky, separated by the Milky Way. This celestial convergence inspired the legend of Niulang and Zhinü, a tale of true love triumphing against all odds.
As the story goes, Niulang was a humble cowherd who lived with his faithful ox, who was actually a cattle god sent to the earth as punishment. One day, Niulang met the fairy princess Zhinü and fell deeply in love. They were soon married, and Zhinü became a weaver girl happily living in Niulang’s cottage. Unfortunately, her mother did not approve and returned Zhinü to heaven.
In a selflessly tragic act, Niulang’s ox sacrificed his own life so the cowherd could use his magic hide to fly to the stars in pursuit of his bride, but the goddess continued to separate the couple with a river of stars. According to the legend, a flock of magpies formed a bridge, allowing the lovers to meet once each year.
Celebrated in China since the Han dynasty, Qixi, or the Double Seventh Festival, inspired Tanabata in Japan, Chilseok in Korea, and Thất Tịch in Vietnam. Many traditions have evolved around the ancient festival: Children hang flowers on the horns of oxen, while young women try to thread a needle by moonlight or read poetry honoring the weaver goddess.
Today, Qixi is similar to Valentine’s Day in the west—an occasion for flowers, candy, and romantic dinners for two.
CNTO (China National Tourism Administration)
No comments:
Post a Comment