When told that July 31st is the Qi Xi Festival, the Chinese equivalent to the Saint Valentines Day, the normally romantic girl's eyes widened.

Two girls chat at the beginning of an event at the Qi Xi festival in Shanghai July 30, 2006. The festival falling on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month based on Chinese calandar is viewed as China's Valentine's Day. [Reuters/chinadaily.com.cn]

"Really? I didn't know that," said Chen Ying, a 26-year-old office worker who bought her lover a ring on Valentine's Day last February.

Chen's reaction is fairly typical of Chinese today. Many have embraced Valentines Day which has become one of the busiest shopping days of the year, yet Qi Xi day, one of the oldest recorded lovers' festivals, passes almost unnoticed.

The Qi Xi Festival dates back to a 2,500-year-old poem from the Han Dynasty. It recounts the tale of two literally star-crossed lovers. Niulang, a cow herder, and Zhinv, a seamstress, are a pair of lovers represented by stars that are separated by the milky way. They are only reunited once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Lunar calendar, when magpies form a bridge allowing them to cross.

"There hasn't been much publicity to remind me," Chen complained who is not the only one to forget to honour their loves on this day.

A poll from the portal Sohu website shows that half of the 6,092 respondents don't celebrate the Qi Xi Festival. Twenty-three percent of them admit that they don't know how to celebrate and another 21 percent said there is not enough build up so they just don't get in the mood.

In Beijing shopping malls start ramping for Valentine's Day a month before February 14th. What few Qixi Festival products there are only started to appear on store shelves a couple of days ago.

"Qi Xi is not as influential as the Valentine's Day," said a shop-owner of a jewelry store in Nanning, capital city of Guangxi, "and just don't know how to promote Qi Xi day."

"The Qi Xi Festival we are now attempting to market is simply a parody of the western Valentine's Day," said Liu Zongdi, researcher with the Institute of Ethnic Literature affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Businessman Fu Deshen sees a business opportunity behind the festival. He notes that on February 14, 2006, sales of flowers and jewelry in big cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou exceeded 500 million yuan.

"There is potential in Qi Xi Festival, so long as you could find the right things to sell and help form a consumption habit," he said.

The Qi Xi festival, together with the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Lunar calendar, were included on the list of intangible heritage last May.

Yet well known writer and vice chairman of the Chinese Literature Association, Feng Jicia, says more should be done to protect and celebrate Qixi Festival. "We should write about the traditional festival in primary school textbooks and organize more activities," he said, "we should design more gifts and toys for people to know this festival."