Je t’aime, Te amo, Ich liebe Dich, I love you! Valentine’s Day around the World.

Je t'aime, Te amo, Ich liebe Dich, I love you! Valentine’s Day around the World.

What began as a day of remembrance for a disobedient priest has bloomed into a yearly tradition stretching to the across the globe.

Back in third-century Rome, Emperor Claudius II banned marriage because he thought single men made better soldiers, one passionate priest named Valentine continued to wed young couples in secret. He was eventually imprisoned for defiance of the law. While in prison Valentine fell in love with woman who came to visit him. Before his death, the priest wrote her a letter--the first “valentine”.

Most of the world celebrates Valentine’s Day the same way, flowers, candy and a romantic meal. But in some corners of the globe they have their own unique traditions.

In Poland on Valentine’s Day couples give each other padlocks instead of roses to show their love. They fix padlocks to a bridge's railings and then throw away the keys in the river as a symbol their eternal love.

In Japan, Valentine's Day is celebrated on two different dates, February 14 and March 14. On the first date, the female gives a gift to the male and on the second date, known as White Day, the male has to return the gift he received on February 14. It appears Japanese women have the luxury of actually choosing their own gift!

Traditional Valentine's Day is celebrated in Taiwan on February 14, but there is also a special Valentine's Day on July 7 of the lunar calendar, based on an ancient Chinese folktale. Both dates are equally as important. Men purchase bouquets of roses for their sweethearts on these days. What makes this unique is that according to Taiwan tradition, the color and number of the roses holds much significance. For example, one red rose means "an only love," eleven roses means "a favorite," ninety-nine rose’s means "forever," and one hundred eight roses’ means "marry me."

Brazilians do not celebrate the day on Feb. 14, but on June 12. They call it Dia dos Namorados ("the day of lovers") in honor of Saint Anthony, patron saint of matchmaking and marriage.

Romanians celebrate love each year on Feb. 24, a holiday known as Dragobete (from the Romanian word drag, meaning dear). Romanians wear good-luck charms and exchange flowers with friends and loved ones.

People in China also have a day devoted to love but it is quite different from Valentine's Day as it is in other parts of the world. Chinese Valentine's Day fall on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month in the Chinese Calendar. Hence the day is also called as ‘Festival of the Double Sevens' or Qi Xi - ‘The Night of Sevens'. The other popular name for the Chinese Valentine's Day is ‘Seven Sister's Festival' and ‘Daughter's Festival'.