"The Milky Way was not always visible. But in the countryside two decades ago, there were few lights on at night. On clear nights, we could see the spectacular galaxy spanning across the sky from Northeast to Southwest. It's breathtaking," she says.

"Then the adults would teach us to tell which stars were Zhinyu and Niulang. It was not easy. I remember the Niulang constellation has a big bright star in the middle and two dimmer stars on the two sides, just reflecting his role in the folk tale," she says.

Long, long time ago, there was a young man called Niulang living in the countryside who was diligent and poor. When his parents died, his elder brother took everything away, leaving him only an old buffalo that actually came from heaven.