Photo: VCG

Romance, animations and crime dramas were competing for moviegoers as China's Valentine's Day arrived on Wednesday, with 19 films opening this week and recent blockbusters still holding strong at the summer box office.

Although the Qixi Festival, celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month on the Chinese lunar calendar and known as Chinese Valentine's Day, is not traditionally considered a major moviegoing period, the holiday has consistently generated a sharp boost in single-day box-office takes, particularly among younger audiences. 

China recorded 364 million yuan ($53.98 million) in ticket sales on Qixi in 2024, a Saturday, about three times the 107 million yuan earned the previous day. In 2025, the Qixi box office, a Friday, reached 234 million yuan, more than double the 109 million yuan recorded a day earlier. 

As of press time, the daily box office for the 2026 Qixi Festival surpassed 230 million yuan. 

"Qixi may not be a major movie-going holiday, but it can still bring a noticeable boost to the box office by concentrating audiences' demand for cinema-going on a single day," Zhang Peng, a cultural researcher and associate professor at Nanjing Normal University, told the Global Times. "For romance films, in particular, the festival provides a natural occasion for couples and young audiences to go to the cinema."

Zhang Zihan, a sophomore design student at Sichuan University, planned to see All Wishes Come True! with her boyfriend Wednesday night. She told the Global Times that after having seen strong recommendations on social media for the animated film, she decided to watch it herself, hoping to assess it from the perspective of an art student. 

The film's storytelling and animation design have drawn widespread praise, earning an 8.2/10 rating on Douban, a popular Chinese review platform.

Six films opened on Wednesday, including two romance titles.

Be With You, supervised by Lan Hongchun, director of family drama Dear You, follows a young couple whose relationship helps both characters heal. 

Love, My Way was selected for the Asian New Talent Award at the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival, where it received nominations for best film, best director and best actress. The film explores women's struggles and growth in intimate relationships. 

The week's biggest new release is expected to be V, which opened Wednesday. It has grossed more than 30 million yuan at the box office as of Wednesday. Directed by Han Yan, whose previous films include Go Away Mr Tumor, A Little Red Flower and Viva La Vida, the crime drama marks his first foray into the police-and-gangster genre.

Du Yangbaixue, a journalism student at the Communication University of China, had planned well in advance to see V with friends. She told the Global Times she was eager to see the new film as she is a fan of Tony Leung Ka-fai and was drawn by the film's star-studded cast. 

The new releases will enter a market still dominated by several strong holdovers.

As of Wednesday, Once Upon a Time in the Middle East had grossed more than 1.1 billion yuan at the box office, while Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey had garnered 320 million yuan. Animated film All Wishes Come True! had grossed more than 160 million yuan. 

In addition, Niu Lai, a low-budget original animated film with rudimentary character modeling and an unconventional, abstract storyline, could receive an additional lift from Qixi moviegoing. It had grossed over 26 million yuan at the box office as of Wednesday. 

"The previous blockbusters are likely to maintain their momentum, while Qixi, one of the key holidays near the end of the summer movie season, could further boost audience demand and lift overall summer box office," noted Zhang.