China has a plethora of love holidays. The most famous in the country may well be Qixi Festival — sometimes referred to as “Chinese Valentine’s Day” and a traditional festival dating back hundreds of years — but both May 20 (often referred to as “520” because it sounds like the Mandarin for “I love you”) and actual St Valentine’s Day (February 14) are also widely celebrated.

The country’s most famous shopping holiday, Double 11 or Singles’ Day, also fits within the grand scheme of romance-oriented days of celebration, though perhaps it sits on the other end of the spectrum from the three days of love mentioned above given its celebration of singledom.

To mark the occasion these holidays of love, the RADII team put our heads together and selected 25 top-notch songs of love, lust, and longing, including go-to KTV bangers, classics of the Canto/Mandopop love song canon, folk, rap, rock, and more. Enjoy!

—

Cover image: Faye Wong in Chungking Express (Janus Films)

More on Qixi:

Runaway Single Dogs and “Rent Yourself” Apps Swarm the Internet for Qixi

Article Aug 17, 2018

Five Completely Non-Traditional Love Songs for Chinese Valentine’s

Article Aug 28, 2017

More RADII Spotify playlists:

Here’s What the New “Mulan” Soundtrack Should Sound Like

Attn Disney: Please tap these local talents to soundtrack the franchise reboot

Article Jul 25, 2019