5 . Thanksgiving is basically a harvest-related festival which celebrates communal harmony. Though this festival is said to have originated in America, a number of other countries also celebrate harvest-related festivals. The festival is observed with different names and in different seasons. In Australia we can see a number of harvest festivals.

Apple Festival & Grape Festival

The harvest for apples and grapes takes place in the month of March in Australia in the granite belt, a special area. The festival is celebrated for 3-4 days. During the festival, various cultural and fun events are organized. Activities like grape crushing competitions, apple picking competitions, street carnivals (狂欢), and grand parades are also part of the festival.

Renmark Orange Week Festival

In August or September, the large orange growing area along the Murray River in South Australia holds a festival in Renmark, which is called the Renmark Orange Week. All kinds of games, competitions and fun last for a week during the carnival. Fireworks are another feature of the festival. The two varieties that are being harvested in Australia are the Valencia, which is from October to May and the Navel, which is from May to October.

Cane Festival

The cane is harvested from June to December in Australia. Most of the cane crop is grow n in Queensland and some in Maclean, New South Wales. And June is time for cane festivals. Just before harvest, the cane is burnt to remove dead leaves and to drive out pests. Machines are being used to cut the cane to the ground.

Wheat Festival

Wheat is harvested in the month of December and is usually finished by the end of January. Harvesting is done by machines. A new harvester invented by Headlie Taylor makes it easier to harvest crops which get flattened or damaged by bad weather.

6 . The Touching China awards honor ordinary people who do extraordinary (不一般的) things at work or in their daily lives. Now meet some of them who ever touched China.

Wang Feng

Wang Feng rushed into a fire three times to save more than 20 people, and 98% area of his body had serious burns. He then was sent to a hospital for full treatment. But due to multiple organ failure, Wang finally died on October 1st in Beijing. Undoubtedly, Wang is a hero who is brave and will be remembered forever.

Zhang Chao

Zhang Chao served as a pilot in the aircraft unit of the People's Liberation Army (PLA)Navy (中国人民解放军海军). In order to help the PLA Navy’s carrier aircraft test, he took the risk of his own life to avoid the carrier aircraft crash. Unluckily, he died in that training exercise at the age of 29. It is important to remember that every soldier’s death is in exchange for more peace and happiness for the country.

Zhi Yueying

In 1980, Zhi Yueying, the 19-year-old from Nanchang, became a teacher in a rural (乡村的) school despite the disagreement from her family in Fengxin, Jiangxi. She firmly believes what education means to children. She once said that there is hope in perseverance (毅力), and that perseverance made her continue her teaching in the rural school for over 40 years.

Guo Xiaoping

Guo Xiaoping established the Linfen Red Ribbon School, which specializes in children with HIV/AIDS to let them receive treatment and education. Guo Xiaoping is a great teacher with a big heart, who chose to hold an umbrella over these children with love and dedication to protect them from the wind and rain for over 12 years.

8 . Crazy Laws

It seems that the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, was right when he said, “Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered.”     1     Some of them were strange right from the start!

Did you know, for example, that London taxis (officially called Hackney carriages) are still legally required to carry hay and oats for their horses to eat? And in England, it is illegal to stand within 100 yards (91 metres) of the queen, without wearing socks?

If you live in Scotland, however, it’s important to know that if someone knocks at the door of your house, and needs to use your toilet, you are legally required to let him in.     2     There, it is perfectly legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow, unless it is a Sunday!

    3     In France, you cannot call your pig Napoleon, and in Italy, a man can be arrested for wearing a skirt. That’s not all. In Alaska, US, while it’s legal to shoot bears, waking a sleeping bear to take its photo is prohibited. Still in Alaska, it is considered an offence to push a live moose out of an aeroplane.

Lots of the craziest laws seem to involve animals.     4     And in Florida, if an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fine must be paid, just as it would for a vehicle.

Last, children are forbidden from going to school with their breath smelling of wild onions in West Virginia. And in Arkansas, teachers who have a certain hairc ut (a bob) will not be given a pay-rise. In Florida, a woman can be fined for falling asleep under the hair-dryer and unmarried women must not parachute on a Sunday. If they do, they might be arrested, receive a fine or be put in jail.