Love Around the World It was an unsetting night at the African bar and Richard Blaine, 37, was especially nervous. Clients had been looking for him to beg favors, but the hard man, scarred by his experiences in the wars in Ethiopia and Spain, gave everyone the same answer, 'I won't get my hands burned for anyone.' Between the noise and the smoke, the notes of a song reached Richard's ears. They infuriated (激怒) him. The musician looked at him terrified, but he had no other choice but to carry on singing: 'You must remember this A kiss is still a kiss A sigh is still a sigh' Richard was unfamiliar with the song, and his eyes grew vulnerable and confused. He looked at the pianist as if he wanted to hit him and began to utter a curse that he never finished. Something stopped him cold. His bravado (威风)was tamed by the sight of a beautiful woman, dressed in white, seated at a table next to the piano. They knew each other, and more to the point, they loved each other. From that moment on, their lives were to spiral (旋转) out of control. Of course, this is a scene from Casablanca, one of the most romantic films of all times. Despite the fictitious characters, the film perfectly illustrates what only die-hard romantics will admit in public: love is a feeling so strong it can affect our lives irrevocably (不能撤销地). As in the case of the legendary Rick, when it hits, love can change our appearance, our behavior, our way of thinking it makes us different from what we were and, in the case of those most fortunate, it makes us better human beings. In other words, love transforms our lives and joins it with others. There are many ways people around the globe express their love for each other. John Lennon sang 'all you need is love'. Mexican poet Jaime Sabines wrote that 'love is the most exquisite, awesome and unbearable silence'. The German write Hohann Wolfgang Von Goethe noted that 'for whoever seeks to work well and always with pleasure, true love must exist in the same way in the heart and in the mind.' With a touch of humor, physicist Albert Einstein declared that 'gravity is not responsible for the attraction between man and woman.' But it was Mahatma Gandhi who expressed it best of all. 'Where there is love,' he said, 'there is life.' And as unique as each person's experience, each culture has its own traditional ways of expressing these feelings. With the help of our international network of reporters and researchers, we travel on the wings of Cupid to circle the map of love. China The world's most populous nation has one of the richest traditions regarding love. Before the discovery of Valentine's Day, which is seen as a western import, the Chinese already had two days set aside for expressing love. The first is Qi Qiao jie, or the Chinese Day of Love, which is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month, according to the Chinese calendar. As you can imagine in this ancient land, the celebration has its roots in legend. It's the story of two lovers-he a foreman chief, and she a spinner-who could meet only once a year on a bridge formed by birds. This day became Qi Qiao Jie. Others in China consider Shang Yuan jie, also called Deng Jie, to be the true Chinese day of love. An ancient festival celebrated on the 15th day of the first month, it is one of those rare occasions when maidens leave their homes. For those who are 'of the age of consent,' it is an opportunity not to be missed. Today few people celebrate Deng Jie. Young Chinese have chosen February 14 as their day of love, and they celebrate it in the Western fashion. They give flowers, chocolates or cards, and go out for walks or dinner. Love in China is expressed through gift-giving, although not to the same ext