A few days was May 20, 2014 or 05/20/2014 or 2014/5/20. While is just an ordinary day in May or a month after 4/20, it's an unofficial holiday here in China.
The Chinese have numeric sayings like calling someone 2, to express that they are stupid or goofy. That has something to with a historical reference, but I’m not 100 percent sure on that. Other number sayings usually have to deal phonetic sounds like 56, wu liao, meaning boring, or 517 wo yao chi, I want to eat. So what makes today so special? 2014/5/20 is “I love you” day. 520 (wu er ling) roughly sounds like我爱你, I love you. 2014 is particular special because 2014 (er ling yi si) comes out to sound like 爱你一世， Love you my whole life, or some variation of love you a lot. Today is I love you day in the Love you forever year.
It was basically like another Valentines day. So if my math is correct, there are four Valentines in China: the 15th day of new lunar year, one on the traditional 2/14, one on 5/20, and one on the seventh month on the seventh day in the lunar calendar ("qixi", Chinese Valentines Day). Flower industry must love China, to think of it, every Friday on the subway I see at least one person receiving or giving a bouquet of flower. I didn't think the Chinese were very open with express their feelings towards one another, guess I was wrong. It is after all China in the 21st century.
While I'm on the subject of dates and numbers play on words. There was another "holiday" a month earlier. 4/19 or 4-1-9, this one made me laugh a little. My coworkers told me about this one. 4-1-9, "for one night", the unofficial one night stand holiday. A lot of hooking up on that day I suppose.
Numbers, and you thought they were only good for math.
-MC
