In the eyes of many foreigners, Chinese are the best hosts (主人) and the worst guests.

However, Western hosts sometimes look rude (粗鲁的) in the eyes of Chinese guests. It is     1     the guest-host relationship in China is quite different from that in some Western     2    .

In China, guests are almost     3     gods. Whenever I enter a Chinese friend’s home, there is always fruit on the table for me, and someone is quick to bring me a cup of tea or water. In the West, generally the guest is not a god. Acting according to the host’s way of     4     things is usual behavior for a guest.

My wife’s mother, a very kind Chinese lady, doesn’t smoke. When I see some of her guests smoking in her house, as a non-smoker, I feel unhappy. Usually, I want to stop them     5    , but I must realize that in China, to be a good host, she must not do that.

In most North American homes, if you are a guest, and the hosts are not smokers, you     6     not smoke in their house. At the very least, you should ask, “Is it OK     7     I smoke?” But don’t be     8     if they say, “No, you can’t smoke.” In my culture, if you smoke in their house, you are a bad guest, but if you are not     9     to smoke in their house, they are not rude hosts.

In a word, no matter     10     you are, the best way to be a good guest is to adapt to (适应) the habits of your hosts’.

Different countries have different customs. In Colombia, people are pretty     1     about time. But they     2     the time they spend with their family and friends. They don’t have to make     3     to meet their friends.    4    , in Switzerland, it’s very important to be on time. If you are     5    , your friend may get mad. So the Swiss always make     6     effort not to keep others waiting. As an exchange student, Lin Yue was     7     before she reached France. But her host family went out of their way to make her feel at home.    8     their help, her French improved quickly. She has also learned how to behave     9    . She gradually got used to her life in France.

I think it’s worth     10     the time to learn about the customs of a country before you go there. That way, you will know what you are supposed to do in different situations.

Why is “buy things” in Chinese spoken as maidongxi( buy east and west), but not mainanbei (buy south and north)?

One theory(假说) says maidongxi has    1    to do with the five elements(要素) jin (metal), mu (wood), shui (water), huo ( fire) and tu (earth). In Chinese culture, the four    2    have to do with these elements. East matches wood，west matches metal, south matches fire, and north matches water.

If someone carries nan (south) and bei (north)in a basket, it means to    3    water and fire, which is not even possible. But if one puts dong (east) and xi (west) in one's basket, of course they can carry metal and wood.

One says that in the Tang Dynasty(唐代),there    4    two popular markets in Chang'an, the capital of China at that time. One was called the East Market, and the    5    was called the West Market.

When shopping, people usually went to the East Market    6    ，and then went to the West Market. As time went    7    , people started to describe shopping as “buying east and west”.

The last theory is about China’s trading history. Around the 15th    8    ,China began trading with the world, and most of its foreign goods(货物) happened to come from the east (Japan) and west (Arabia). Markets    9    “things from the east and the west.” It was short for “east and west”    10    .

Which theory do you prefer?

Born as the Dong people in Guizhou, Yang Xiuying, 74, has been making indigo cloth（蓝靛染布）since she was a young girl. For the Dong people, making indigo cloth has     1     long tradition. The skill has been passed down from mother to daughter over years.

This traditional way of making indigo cloth, unfortunately, is now     2     danger. It disappears（消失）slowly in the modern society. Young people show little interest in it and     3     of them have moved to big cities to find better jobs.

Local governments want to save the tradition     4     they are trying to change young people’s opinions on it. Several cloth-making factories have been set up in Guizhou. After learning     5     to make indigo cloth, young Dong people can find jobs easily in their hometown.

The Dong people consider indigo cloth as     6     as rice. Many Dong women spend lots of hours making the cloth. To make the cloth bright, it must be rubbed（搓）and beaten hard. The cloth has to be put in the dye（染料）for many rounds to get the rich colors. The process of coloring usually takes two weeks.

In ancient China, when friends or relatives were separating, they would pick a willow twig (柳条) and give it to the person who was leaving. This was to express     1     wish for him to stay. In Chinese, the word for “willow” is     2     the same as the word for “stay”.

Many Chinese poets liked writing about willows in their works. One of the most famous     3     is A Farewell Song (《送元二使安西》) by Wang Wei. It reads,

No dust is raised on the road wet with morning rain,

The willows by the hotel look so     4     and green.

I invite you to drink a cup of wine again,

West of the Sunny Pass no more friends will be seen.

Nowadays, willow twigs can also be seen in modern art. There     5     an amazing performance about willow twigs. 365 people were holding willow twigs in their     6     on the green stage. At the same time, an ancient painting of weeping willows (垂柳) appeared on the LED screen. The setting of 365 people stood for 365 days, and the color green     7     the return of spring. The performance was     8     praised by the audience (观众) . “I was totally attracted by Chinese     9     culture,” one of them said.

In short,     10     a willow twig to a person is not saying goodbye but asking him to stay. This is the beauty of Chinese culture.