The Dragon Boat Festival is on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month. Chinese people celebrate it in memory of Qu Yuan. There are many different traditions in different areas.     1    

Dragon boat racing

As the most popular activity during the festival, dragon boat racing shows the importance of team work and the spirit of competition.     2     It is said that the winning team will have good luck and a happy life in the coming year.

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A very popular dish during the Dragon Boat Festival is zongzi. The tradition of zongzi is meant to feed the fish in Miluo River so that they would not eat Qu Yuan. It is made of rice dumplings with meat, peanuts or other delicious food in bamboo leaves.     4     They are very delicious.

Tying five-color string（系五彩绳）

    5     On the festival, parents usually put five-color string around their children’s neck or some other parts of the body. They believe it can protect their children. Children shouldn’t speak while their parents tie the five-color string for them, nor can they untie（解开）it until a certain time.

【推荐2】London had an interesting book reading project in the summer of 2014. It was called “Books About Town” and it celebrated London’s storytellers and stories by inviting you to sit on a book! How can you sit on a book? Read on!

The organizers placed 50 seats, called “book benches(长凳)”, around the city. On the benches, there were pictures of writers, books and characters. The Mary Poppins bench, for example, had a picture of Mary flying through the air with her umbrella. Other famous characters included James Bond and Sherlock Holmes.

With 50 different benches, and stories to discover, there were also four small roads that led to several benches in the same area. You could download a map that showed you where the benches were placed. There were quizzes that went with the roads and you had to answer questions about the different benches and their writers and stories. The answers were on or near the benches.

The project also included some other events. At the James Bond bench, there were free books as presents waiting for readers. For Agatha Christie fans, there was a gathering (集会) where they could see many famous faces. The writer’s grandson read out part of one of the stories, and the man who drew the pictures for the Agatha Christie novels was also there.

When the project ended in September, the benches were sold to raise money for reading projects in the UK. This project has influenced other book lovers. Some have started similar projects in their own place. Isn’t it a great way to encourage reading?

【推荐1】Greetings, singing, dancing, wine and laughter filled the air in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autonomous region (西藏自治区), on Thursday for the Tibetan New Year Festival, known locally as Losar.

According to the Tibetan calendar, this is the Year of the Water Tiger.

Tibetan shop owners close their stores to celebrate and people wear their newest and best Tibetan clothes.

“In the past, some villagers worried about the new year, as they did not have nice food and clothes to show off in the village during the festival. Now it’s different. We enjoy a lot of choices for shopping,” said Tsering, adding they had made big preparations for the celebrations.

“We have prepared all kind of delicious food, including dessert, cheese, meat, butter and new clothes for everyone in the family.”

Tibetans start the festival from the 29th day of the 12th month on the Tibetan calendar. On that night, family members gather to enjoy noodles called guthok.

Activities during the event also include giving gifts to other families, hanging prayer flags (经幡) on roofs, and visiting temples.

The tradition of the Losar celebration dates to about 100 BC, the time of the ninth king of the Tubo kingdom, Pude Gungyal. Celebrations can run for as long as 15 days.

Dancing and singing, people had fun around the fire on the Torch (火把) Festival of the Yi people in Yunnan province on June 24th of the Chinese Lunar calendar (农历). The Yi people celebrate the festival by lighting torches every year. The early Yi people lived in high and cold places in the mountains. For them, they used fire for light, to stay warm and cook food. An old saying goes, “Everything you eat must see ‘fire’.” In the old days, people lit a small fire outside the door before they took animal meat into the home. They put the meat over the fire to make bad luck go away. People burned leaves on the ground to make the land rich.

In Yunnan province, the Naxi people also celebrate the Torch Festival. During this festival, each Naxi family prepares a large torch made of bamboo sticks and colorful cloth, which is then placed in front of their houses. The Torch Festival is not just about the torches, but also includes different activities such as bull (牛), cock, and sheep fights, traditional singing and dancing performances, horseracing, and enjoying delicious food and drinks.

Today the festival is a social event because both Yunnan people and visitors come together to celebrate it. They spread their happiness and thanks for a good life. We Yunnan people also expect more people to understand our festival and life.