SOUTH KOREAN
Adopted from the Japanese tradition of Valentine's Day, women in South Korea spoild their men with chocolates on this day. In return, they receive gifts on "White Day" from men in a similar fashion as in Japan. However, it doesn't end there. They have taken the Valentine's tradition a step further and introduced what they call "Black Day".On the April 14th, a month after"White Day" the single people who didn't receive any lovin' (chocolates or gifts) on Valentine's Day or White Day for that matter, have started an informal tradition of meeting up at restaurants to eat "jajangmyeon", a dish made up of white Korean noodles with a black bean sauce, referred to as a black noodles. Some say this tradition of eating black noodles with other single friends is a celebration if the single life, while some see it as is more of a consolation dinner or mourning of being single. That said, South Koreans are a romantic bunch and have practically marked the 14th of every month to signify some sort of "Love"related day.
January 14- kicks off with Candle day; February 14th - Valentine's Day; March 14th - White Day; April 14th - Black Day; May 14th - Rose Day; June 14th - Kiss Day; July 14th - Silver Day; August 14th - Green Day; September 14th - Music Day; October 14th - Wine Day; November 14th - Movie Day; December 14th - Hug Day.
JAPAN
In Japan, Valentine's Day is celebrated on two different dates...February 14 and March 14. On the first date, the female gives a gift to the male and on the second date...known as White Day and supposedly introduced by a marshmallow company in the 1960s...the male has to return the gift he received on February 14. Thus, strictly speaking, a Japanese female has the luxury of actually choosing her own gift. Chocolate is the most popular gift in Japan. However, since most Japanese females believe that store-bought chocolate is not a gift of true love, they tend to make the confection with their own hands.
CHINA
In China, the common situation is the man gives chocolate, flowers or both to the woman that he loves. In Chinese, Valentine's Day is called lovers' festival (simplified Chinese: 情人节; traditional Chinese: 情人節; pinyin: qíng rén jié). The so-called "Chinese Valentine's Day" is the Qixi Festival, celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. It commemorates a day on which a legendary cowherder and weaving maid are allowed to be together. Valentine's Day on February 14 is not celebrated because it is often too close to the Chinese New Year, which usually falls on either January or February. In Chinese culture, there is an older observance related to lovers, called "The Night of Sevens" (Chinese: 七夕; pinyin: Qi Xi). According to the legend, the Cowherd star and the Weaver Maid star are normally separated by the Milky Way (silvery river) but are allowed to meet by crossing it on the 7th day of the 7th month of the Chinese calendar.
In recent years, celebrating White Day has also become fashionable among some young people.
TAIWAN
In Taiwan, the Japanese/South Korean tradition of Valentine's Day and White Day is reversed, in the sense that, men gift women chocolates and presents on Valentine's Day, whereas, the women reciprocate and return the flavor by gifting men chocolates on White Day.
Be careful with the number of the flowers you gift to a girl in Taiwan. A single rose is as romantic a gesture as ever, but 99 roses means forever"and a whopping bouquet of 108 roses signifies a proposal of marriage.
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