In Japan， for example， women dont receive gifts from men at all， and they give them. A month later on March 14th， however， men can return the favor on what is known as White Day.

比如，在日本，女士根本不會(huì)收到男士的禮物，她們是送禮物的一方。不過，一個(gè)月之后，也就是3月14日，男士可以在“白色情人節(jié)”回禮。

In South Africa， women write down the name of the person they are besotted with and pin it to their sleeves.

在南非，女士會(huì)寫下自己深愛的人的名字并將其縫在袖子上。

And if you want to avoid Valentines Day altogether， youll be in good company in Saudi Arabia， where its strictly banned. There is even a black market for red roses.

如果你想完全逃避情人節(jié)，那么你可以在沙特阿拉伯找到志同道合的人。在那里情人節(jié)是嚴(yán)令禁止的。該國(guó)甚至存在紅玫瑰的黑市交易。

In Wales， they celebrate St. Dwynwens Day on January 25th， who is the patron saint of lovers. It is tradition for the men to give women gifts in the form of hand carved wooden spoons.

威爾士的情人節(jié)是1月25日，叫作“圣·杜溫節(jié)”。圣·杜溫是情侶的守護(hù)神。這個(gè)節(jié)日的傳統(tǒng)是男士要送給女士手工雕刻的木質(zhì)勺子。

In Germany， pigs are a symbol of luck and lust， so are seen on cards and gifts on Valentines Day. They are often accompanied by other symbols of luck， such as four-leaf clovers.

在德國(guó)，豬是好運(yùn)和欲望的象征，所以情人節(jié)的卡片和禮物上經(jīng)常能看到豬的形象。該圖案通常和四葉草等其他幸運(yùn)象征圖形一起出現(xiàn)。

On the 7th day of the 7th month on the Chinese Lunar Calendar， people in China celebrate the Qixi Festival. Based on a tale of the Weaver Girl and the Cowboy， who were separated on opposite sides of the Silver River （the Milky Way） as their love was not allowed. A flock of magpies would form a bridge to reunite them for one night each year.

農(nóng)歷七月初七是中國(guó)的七夕節(jié)。這個(gè)節(jié)日源于牛郎織女的故事，他們兩人因?yàn)楸唤瓜鄲鄱指粼阢y河兩岸。每年的這個(gè)夜晚，一大群喜鵲就會(huì)搭成一座橋讓他們相會(huì)。

In Finland and Estonia， the 14th of February is Friends Day and friendship is celebrated rather than romantic love.

在芬蘭和愛沙尼亞，2月14日是朋友節(jié)，人們?cè)谶@一天慶祝友情而不是愛情。endprint