China's 'day of love' on 02/22/2022

"We hope we can further develop our common hobby after getting married, and experience ice and snow sports across China during the winter sports boom brought about by the Beijing Winter Olympics," Jiang said.

Many people are also spending the day with family. And loving bonds are not only forged through kinship but also through intergenerational cultural traditions.

At noon, Yang Li, a practitioner of the Miao ethnic group's signature embroidery craft, played with an embroidered ball with her daughter at a corner shop specializing in the form of intangible cultural heritage. The shop, located in the scenic area of Tongren city in Southwest China's multiethnic Guizhou province, serves as an exhibition space for her masterpieces embroidered on leaves.

Yang, 46, now pricks traditional Miao patterns into the veins of leaves, a once-lost art dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911). After years and hundreds of attempts to prepare suitable leaves for the delicate handicraft, Yang has permanently damaged her hands by using the necessary chemicals.

"It is my sheer passion and love that have made me soldier on with the ancient craft." And the embroidery master would like to pass on her beloved art to her daughter. "My child seems very taken with colors. When she grows up, I hope to gradually teach her Miao embroidery."

Despite the special date, simple family reunions have been difficult for some people living in parts of China impacted by COVID-19 outbreaks.