A photo of the Milky Way taken on July 31, one week before the Qixi Festival (seventh day of the seventh lunar month), a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid. /VCG Photo
A photo of the Milky Way taken on July 31, one week before the Qixi Festival (seventh day of the seventh lunar month), a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid. /VCG Photo
A photo of the Milky Way taken on July 31, one week before the Qixi Festival (seventh day of the seventh lunar month), a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid. /VCG Photo
A photo of the Milky Way taken on July 31, one week before the Qixi Festival (seventh day of the seventh lunar month), a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid. /VCG Photo
A photo of the Milky Way taken on July 31, one week before the Qixi Festival (seventh day of the seventh lunar month), a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid. /VCG Photo
A photo of the Milky Way taken on July 31, one week before the Qixi Festival (seventh day of the seventh lunar month), a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid. /VCG Photo
One of the most fascinating things about the galaxy is the Milky Way, a hazy band of light that resembles a river in the night sky.
Scientifically, it is formed from stars but Chinese people put it into folk legend as a channel connecting the immortal and mortal worlds. Every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, magpies will come together to build a bridge to reconnect two lovers, the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid, who have been separated by the Milky Way.
The photos were taken over Mifeng Mountain or "bees mountain," on the border between China and Russia, in Jixi City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
(Cover image via VCG)
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