Valentine’s Day is celebrated in a very similar manner across the United States, but it varies when it comes to other countries.

Valentine’s Day is the second-most celebrated holiday in the world, second only to New Year’s Day, and is celebrated by many countries around the world.

“I’m used to the typical American style of Valentine’s Day. When you’re a kid, you made boxes in elementary school and put Valentine’s in the boxes, now you send cards to your parents, or your boyfriend,” said Michelle Hunter, senior in child, adult and family services.

Hunter studied abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland last year and noticed that Valentine’s Day in Scotland is celebrated very much like it is in the United States.

“It was really similar; all the convenient stores, card stores just threw up everything Valentine’s Day. Everything’s pink and red; they generally had all the same candy we did,” Hunter said.

There was one main difference Hunter noticed between the way Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Scotland and here in Iowa.

“In Iowa there aren’t really any clubs, but there was a bunch of clubs in Edinburgh, and they all had Valentine’s themes and they would have themes of famous couples, and people would go to the clubs dressed as famous couples, so that was kind of cool,” Hunter said.

China also celebrates Valentine’s Day in a way very similar to the United States.

“For Valentine’s Day celebrated Feb. 14, we celebrate almost exactly the same way as western people. Couples give each other gifts, like chocolate or go to a restaurant,” said Shuyang Sun, freshman in computer science.

However, China also has its own traditional version of Valentine’s Day that follows their lunisolar calendar. This version of Valentine’s Day is known as the Qixi Festival, and is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which usually occurs sometime in August.

“The story behind the Qixi festival is that a fairy comes down from heaven and marries a cow herder. The fairy’s mother, the goddess of heaven, finds out and gets mad at her daughter and takes her back to heaven,” Sun said.

According to legend, once a year all these birds, called magpies, will fly up and create a bridge so the two lovers can see each other. In honor of this day, Chinese women will make wishes for a good husband and typically practice arts, such as melon carving.

With celebrations happening all over the world on Feb. 14, this Valentine’s Day may be the right time to try something completely new from another culture.