Valentine's Day preparations get under way across the world
Wenzhou, Zhejiang province: Chinese paramilitary recruits stand in a heart formation on a basketball courtPhotograph: APHong Kong: Traditional Chinese Spring Lantern Festival decorations. The festival marks the end of Chinese New Year celebrations and is referred to as Chinese Valentine's Day because lantern markets were a favourite meeting place for young couplesPhotograph: Vincent Yu/APJi'nan, China: A bottle of wine labelled with a photo of a couplePhotograph: Cui Jian/AP
Fujisawa, Japan: An ox called Heart, due to the marking on his forehead, has drawn attention from around the countryPhotograph: Junko Kimura/Getty ImagesHong Kong: A couple takes part in a wife-carrying competitionPhotograph: YM YIK/EPARafah, Gaza Strip: A Palestinian farmer working in a flower farm collects red carnations, which will be exported to the Netherlands – a rare exception to the blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007Photograph: Said Khatib/AFPKuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Chinese girls throw mandarins into a lake during the Chap Goh Mei festival – also known as Chinese Valentine's Day. Young maidens believed that, by throwing mandarins into water, they would find a good husbandPhotograph: Lai Seng Sin/APLondon Zoo: Roxy the rockhopper penguin stands next to a postbox as she prepares for an influx of Valentines Day cards. Despite being the most adopted animal at London Zoo and the owner of 431 friends on MySpace, Roxy still has no matePhotograph: Fiona Hanson/PAKiev, Ukraine: A couple walk along the Bridge of Love, which is traditionally decorated with Valentine symbols left by loversPhotograph: Efrem Lukatsky/APEngaged couple Deidre Moran, from Co Mayo, and Stephen Long, from Co Meath, hold hands in Whitefriar Carmelite Church in Dublin, where Father David Weakliam hosted a blessing of the rings ceremonyPhotograph: Julien Behal/PANablus, Isreal: A Palestinian woman hangs lingerie outside a shopPhotograph: NASSER ISHTAYEH/APWenzhou, Zhejiang province: Paramilitary recruits make heart signs. Western customs are increasingly influencing Chinese culture, with Valentine's Day now hugely popular in ChinaPhotograph: China Daily/ReutersDunstable, Bedfordshire: Scarlet macaws Inca and George give each other a peck on the beak and a rose for Valentine's Day at Whipsnade Zoo. Macaws mate for lifePhotograph: Steve Parsons/PAOld Brompton Road, London: A worker at Only Roses prepares a bouquet from roses shipped in from EcuadorPhotograph: Katie Collins/PAManila Bay, Philippines: Three staff in scuba gear pose as Cupid and a couple inside an aquarium at a marine theme parkPhotograph: Jay Directo/AFPNew Delhi, India: Activists of the right-wing Hindu party Shiv Sena burn cards in an anti-Valentine's Day protest. They believe it is a cultural invasion on the Hindu way of lifePhotograph: Manan Vatsyayana/AFPSlimbridge, Gloucestershire: A pair of mute swans at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust begin their elaborate courtship display by making a heart shape with their necksPhotograph: Barry Batchelor/PA
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