Dragon dances,acrobats（杂技）,fireworks, a parade… London is full of excitement for Chinese New Year. Find out more about how people in London celebrate.

The event For London’s Chinese community and everyone else who loves a good party; Chinese New Year is a huge event. Before Chinese New Year, people make sure their houses are clean and tidy, buy new clothes and get a haircut to bring good luck for the new year.

The celebrations in central London,there are plenty of local people and visitors—who come to China celebrate this festival.Celebrations include fashion shows and Chinese hip-hop acts（杂技）, as well as traditional performances with Chinese acrobats.

Chinatown is busy. The streets are decorated with lucky red lanterns and full of crafts（工艺品）and food stalls（货摊）. If you’re thinking of eating in one of Chinatown’s excellent Chinese restaurants,book a table early,because you won't find one on the night.

Chinese people in Britain.

For young Chinese people studying or working in the UK,video call is a good way to join big family celebrations back home. Those missing home might also cook dumplings for friends in Britain or organize an evening of karaoke. The festivities（欢庆）are not as noisy as back home,where loud firecrackers（鞭炮）are traditionally used to frighten away a terrible monster（怪物）called Nian. But there is still plenty of excitement, happiness and good feelings as people come together to enjoy the celebrations.

【推荐1】

Seba Stephens is only 11 years old, but he’s a very talented musician. He plays the drums, bass, guitar and piano.

Seba and his family live in Memphis, USA—a place famous for music. He grew up with music all around, but his favorite was the drumming from the band. “The Police songs are full of so much cool drumming,” he says.

Before he turned three, his parents asked him what he wanted for his birthday. “Drums!” he answered. His parents bought him a junior drum set (儿童架子鼓). He liked it very much. “He didn’t stop playing,” says his dad, Everett.

But soon Seba grew unhappy. He couldn’t get his junior drum set to make the sounds he had heard. Then his parents bought him a professional (专业的) drum set and let him take drum lessons.

In just a few months, his drum teacher said that Seba was learning so quickly that he needed a higher level of lessons.

Seba’s parents encouraged him to play music in other ways. Seba learned the bass, guitar, and piano. As a four-year-old child, he faced difficulties. “I couldn’t see over my drum set,” he says. He also couldn’t find a good bass that was small enough.

Seba started a band in kindergarten. By first grade, he could make money by playing music. In 2020, Seba joined a summer music program at Berklee, a famous college of music. To keep up, he had to practice for 36 hours a week.

After the summer, Seba asked his parents to home-school him so he could keep going to Berklee during the school year. He did school work in the mornings. In the afternoons and at night he worked on music. He studied with some famous drummers, and learned many drumming skills.

In May 2021, Seba became the youngest person ever to receive a professional certificate (证书) from Berklee. When he’s old enough, Seba hopes to go to college at Berklee. For now, he’s still practicing and playing.

Music is a big part of our lives. But some US schools have cut music classes in recent years. For example, Chicago public schools hurt arts education when it fired（解雇）over 1, 000 teachers. Among them, 10 percent of the teachers taught art or music, according to The Washington Times.

In fact, this is not just a problem in the US. In other countries, such as China and the UK, music classes are not thought to be as important as other subjects like science, math and history. That’s because music is not seen as a very important life skill, and it isn’t tested. Many students are busy with schoolwork, so parents and students choose to focus on（专注于）subjects that are tested more often.

However, music education is very important for all students. Music helps with math and science. Students learn to count and how to divide. Students also use science to help them discover what sounds good together and what doesn’t. Students can learn a lot about languages through music. Many songs are written in other languages. Students must learn to translate these works to understand what they are singing about. Students can also learn about art. Some famous pieces are written about important pieces of art, and students learn about the artists as they’re playing the music.

Music education brings higher thinking to our children. It allows them to think about complex（复杂的）patterns. Students have to sense what every other musician does at every time.

Students also learn plenty of cooperation（协作）of body parts through music. It is not as simple as it looks. For example, when playing the piano, people see music notes and decode（解码）them in their brains. They also use their fingers to make sounds.

Almost everyone shares the same daily routine（例行公事）: beginning the day by reading the newspaper, then going off to work and then returning home tired and ready for bed. Younger people in school or college may have a different routine from adults, but their lives are pretty similar. Most people, young or old, can’t find the time or energy to relax and enjoy the day. Luckily, music is here to help us forget our worries and feel peaceful. Besides being pleasant to the ear, music can help us relax. Music is also good because it can teach us something about different languages and cultures and all around the world. Everyone likes music and every country has a history of music to be proud of. From birth to death, we have music along with us. Music, like all forms of art, is another way to add peace to our lives. Modern studies show that relaxing music can do good to our bodies in some way as hard exercise does. Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician, said that some kinds of music could change behavior patterns. Listening to the sounds of music can make us relax ourselves. Music can help people communicate and express their feelings. Every day people enjoy songs on the radio because the songs reflect（反映）their feelings inside. Lovers need love songs for each other. As much as music expresses feelings, it can also change feelings. A sad day can be made happy with the help of music. Sometimes when we feel angry we need angry music to make us feel better. Music can also help people remember something. School children are taught to sing songs about colors, animals and letters to help them memorize new words and concepts（概念）. Music can change people’s lives in unimaginable ways.

Do you like dumplings? Welcome to China. We’ll invite you to eat the real Chinese food—dumplings. They are very popular Chinese food. In China, people call it jiaozi. In China, there are many different kinds of dumplings such as vegetable dumplings, egg dumplings and meat dumplings. They are delicious. Many people like to eat them. 3.I like dumplings with vegetables and beef best.

Usually people make dumplings at home. If you don’t have time to make them, you can buy them from any supermarket. Then you take them home and eat them with vinegar (醋). The Spring Festival is very important in China. Chinese people always like to eat dumplings at the Spring Festival. Dumplings have the special meaning of the family being together. When we make dumplings at the Spring Festival, we usually put a coin (硬币) in a dumpling. 4.If one eats the dumpling with the coin in it, he or she will be lucky in the year.

Look at the dumpling. What does it look like? Well....the dumpling looks like a ship. And to our surprise, many foreigners also like eating dumplings.

John Smith is an exchange student from New York. Here is a letter to his friend in his hometown.

【推荐3】Chinese people have been celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival and enjoying mooncakes for centuries. Mooncakes are in the shape of a full moon on the Mid-Autumn night. They carry people’s wishes to the families they love and miss.

①There are many traditional folk stories about this festival.However, most people think that the story of Chang’e is the most touching Chang’e was Hou Yi’s beautiful wife. After Hou Yi shot down the nine suns, a goddess gave him magic medicine to thank him. Whoever took this could live forever, and Hou Yi planned to take it with Chang’e. However, a bad man, Pang Meng, tried to steal the medicine when Hou Yi was not home. Chang’e refused to give it to him and took it all. She became very light and flew up to the moon.后羿是如此的难过,以至于他每晚都对着月亮大声呼喊她的名字。One night, he found that the moon was so bright and round that he could see his wife there. He quickly laid out her favorite fruits and desserts in the garden. How he wished that Chang’e could come back!

After this, people started the tradition of admiring the moon and sharing mooncakes with their families.

There is a big park near my home.People like to go to the park after work.(1)Some of them go to the park every day.Look!That is Mr.King.He is sitting on a chair and watching the children.Some children are playing games.Some boys are playing football.Lucy and Lily are standing under a tree.They are talking.(2)is,a,in,small,the,river,park,there.We can see some boats on the water.(3)A little boy and his parents are sitting in the boat.(4)            !A girl is singing happily.This is really a nice park.I come here after school every day.

There are four seasons in a year in Canada. But in Canada, spring comes in February. It is usually very cold in most parts of the country. Children can still go skating in some places. Summer is usually cooler than that in China. Early in the morning, it is so cold that the Canadians usually wear sweaters. Autumn comes after summer. In autumn, Canadians like to look at the maples (枫树) in the parks or on the hills because they are really beautiful. Winter is the coldest season of the year. It’s often very cold. There is thick ice on the rivers and lakes. Children like to go skating there. Of course, they have to wear warm and thick coats, or they will catch a cold.

【推荐3】The program “China Year in Russia (俄罗斯)” has ended, but the cultural ties between the two countries grow stronger. “Chinese fever (中国热)” continues in Russia.

Fifty-year-old Wei Dehan has been studying Chinese culture for thirty years. He was among the first Russians to open a Chinese teahouse in Moscow. That was in 1995. He also teaches Chinese language and Tai Chi (太极). (2) During “China Year in Russia”, he set up a magazine introducing Chinese culture. It’s popular with local readers.

In Russia, young people who can speak Chinese are (1)__________in every industry. Young people who are able to speak Chinese language find jobs easily. Some 15-thousand people attend Chinese language classes in Russia. The Confucius Institute (孔子学院) , the world-wide Chinese language and culture education center, has been set up in thirteen of Russia’s universities and colleges. Besides the language, Chinese way of life is becoming a common factor (因素) in the daily lives of Russian people. (3)绿茶，中国食品和太极变得越来越受欢迎。

Russian newspapers and magazines praised (称赞) “China Year in Russia” as a timely event. They said that the program deepened (加深) understanding between the people of the two countries. It also opens the way for further culture exchanges.