1 . Books That Celebrate Diverse Holidays and Traditions

It’s important to remember there are a diverse set of holidays available to explore. Below are a few books that help introduce children to different holiday cultures and traditions.

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto, illustrated by Ed Martinez

While helping her mother with Christmas celebration, Maria is tempted to try on her mother’s diamond ring. After getting caught up in the joy of the holiday and playing with her cousins, Maria realizes the ring is missing! That’s when she and her cousins come up with a plan to eat all of the tamales, in hopes of finding the ring.

Together for Kwanzaa by Juwanda G. Ford, illustrated by Shelly Hehenberger

This is a story about a little girl named Kayla who wants to see her older brother Khari come home so they can celebrate Kwanzaa together as a family. Khari is stuck at college when a snowstorm hits and his car breaks down. Will he make it home in time for Kwanzaa?

A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman

This book is a funny, nostalgic tale of Christmas Eve afternoon through Christmas night in Wales, and is full of unique imagery and poetic prose. It will arouse a sense of familiarity for some young readers while introducing them to different aspects of Christmas traditions.

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Frane Lessac

The word otsaliheliga is used by members of the Cherokee Nation to express gratitude. This is an amazing story that describes a journey through the seasons with a modern-day Cherokee family. Cherokee history and traditions are also woven into the story in a very kid-friendly way.

2 . The Chinese pancake, or jianbingguozi, is one of the most common breakfast foods in northern China, usually filled with materials like vegetables, eggs and spicy paste. On the video-sharing platform Douyin, French chef Corentin Delcroix’s video of his own type of jianbing has been viewed about 250,000 times. But just how does his differ? It is packed with cheese, ham, pickle (泡菜) and black truffle mayonnaise (黑松露蛋黄酱) — materials typically found in French pancakes, which Delcroix says aren’t all that different to Chinese pancakes.

Delcroix’s addiction to Chinese cuisine started in 2002 when he was studying in Beijing. “The first Chinese dish I learned to cook was scrambled eggs with tomatoes. But my favorites are cooked wheat-based foods such as jiaozi and xiaolongbao,’” says Delcroix. After learning how to prepare some of the popular local dishes, Delcroix decided to share his favorite Chinese and French dishes on social media. And many of his videos show him preparing dishes that marry elements of both cuisines.

But this effort is not just about self-improvement — Delcroix says he has also managed to learn more about Chinese cuisines through the comments that he receives from his viewers. “It is through the viewers that I get to learn how to create truly local dishes. The suggestions are faster and more direct than those from the market,” Delcroix says.

Delcroix is presently a chef, a successful businessman and a food blogger who has millions of followers on Chinese social media platforms. Despite having learned so much about Chinese cuisine over the years, Delcroix is still hungry for more knowledge.

Looking ahead, he wants to do more to spread Chinese cuisine to people overseas. “I always feel that there might be cultural barriers when Chinese chefs introduce their local cuisines to foreigners. It might be much easier for a foreigner to explain,” he adds, “I want to be that bridge.”

Paper-cut, a traditional Chinese folk decorative art, takes the scissors or knife as the tool and colored paper as the material to cut out various motifs (花纹) or patterns, which are either     1     (wear) by women on the hair or glued to windows, gates, or doors     2     (bring) good luck and avoid disasters. The pictures should be     3     (skill) done to ensure the completeness.

The first paper cuts     4     (find) in tombs from the time of the northern and southern Dynasty (386-589),    5     (include) circular paper cuts of horses and monkeys. By the southern Song Dynasty (1127-1297) paper-cutting had become so popular among all walks of the society     6     it was no longer a specialized field among craftsmen. In many parts of China, paper cutting skill has become     7     must for women, old and young,     8     as a symbol of a clever mind and nimble (灵巧的) fingers, it also brings high reputation for them.

Chinese paper cutting art is a living fossil of history, with the richest historical cultural understanding and distinct characteristics    9     (vary) from region to region. Therefore, its cultural value far exceeds the Chinese paper cutting art itself. Going global, it has gained     10     (popular) among foreign friends, thus turning a Chinese folk art into the cultural treasure of the whole world.

Have you ever had this kind of childhood memory: a family sits together casually during a holiday, drinking and tasting tea after lunch or dinner? This has been a     1     (day) activity for Chinese people throughout the history.

After being spread to different parts of the world, tea has received top-level global recognition     2     a shared cultural treasure of mankind. “The     3     (practice) of greeting guests with tea are shared among multiple ethnic groups. They provide     4     sense of identity and continuity for communities, groups and individuals     5     (concern),” states a document from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to UNESCO.

This explanation can be fully manifested by weilu zhucha, which     6     (mean) boiling tea at a stove, a social tea activity going viral among the young generation of Chinese people. By the end of November, 2022, videos recording or introducing this activity     7     (play) 1.14 billion times, and related posts had attracted 11.58 million views on social media platforms, reported CCTV.

Weilu zhucha might be a replacement in the cold seasons for the camping craze.     8     (sit) around with friends and families with a stove, some tea, fruit and refreshments on the table, people may chat, view the surrounding scenery,     9     be immersed in traditional Chinese culture by boiling tea together in person. “    10     appeals to me most is its warm atmosphere when boiling tea.” an Internet user commented on Sina Weibo.

Chinese painting is also called traditional Chinese painting. As     1     important part of traditional Chinese culture, it has a long history and fine traditions in the field of art in the world.

    2     (draw) a Chinese painting, you need a writing brush, ink, xuan paper, and ink stone. Especially, xuan paper, is the best tool for Chinese painting     3     it allows the writing brush, wet with Chinese ink and held in a well-trained hand to move freely on it.

There are three main     4    (subject) of Chinese painting: human figures，landscapes (风景) , and birds and flowers. For example, the painting     5     ladies, the painting of mountains, and the painting of insects and fish. Figure painting became highly     6     (develop) during the Tang dynasty, and landscape painting reached its     7     (high) during the Song dynasty.

There are two main techniques in Chinese painting.     8     is gongbi often referred to as “fine-line” painting. This style of painting pays close attention to details. It’s often     9     (use) to draw people or animals. The other is freehand style, referred to as “xieyi”. It pays more attention to     10     (express) an artist’s feelings. It is often used in landscape paintings.

Chinese paintings do not try to draw the outlooking of a subject, but its nature or character. Every area of the painting is interesting to the eye.

A mooncake is around fat cake with ingredients inside, which by its roundedness     1     (symbol) reunion. There are some legends     2     (regard) the origin of the mooncake.

According to a novel     3     (write) in the Tang Dynasty, once cm per or Xuanzong was enjoying the full moon in his palace on     4     15th of the lunar month, a magician brought him to the Moon Palace,     5     the emperor saw hundreds of pretty fairies in white dresses dancing     6     (graceful). This story greatly aroused the common people’s desire     7     (visit) the moon. The practice of enjoying the full moon at harvest time became more and more popular, and later people started to eat moon cakes and drink wine.

    8     is worth mentioning is that in ancient times, all mooncakes were home made, while today, most people buy manufactured (加工好的) mooncakes. Numerous kinds of delicately-made moon cakes are available in the market. Nearly all moon cakes have Chinese characters on them, which express good wishes, such as “wealth and honor”,     9     others describe beautiful pictures, such as, “Chang’e going to the moon” and “three ponds reflecting the moon”. In terms of     10     (vary), there are Jiangsu style, Guangdong style, Beijing style, Chaozhou style, and Yunnan style, etc., all enjoying inviting appearance and delicious taste.

Similar to people of other nationalities, ancient Chinese people grasped or tore food with their bare hands at the beginning. Chopsticks, forks, knives and spoons were used much later, among     1     chopsticks, with a history of thousands of years, is     2     wonder of Chinese dining utensil(用具).

In ancient China, they were called zhu. Their upper parts are square and     3    (low) parts round,     4     they are all round. Whatever their shapes, the pair must be identical to each other.     5    (normal), people hold chopsticks with the right hand to pick up food. The invention of chopsticks fully displayed the dexterity(灵巧)and     6     (intelligent) of the Chinese people. According to some Japanese scholars, to properly handle chopsticks requires the skillul interaction of over 80 joints(关节)and 50 muscles, and what＇s more, certain nerves     7     (involve).

Chopsticks, a food picking utensil     8     (make) of bamboo or wood, is widely used by the Hans and some minority ethnic groups. Some elegant chopsticks     9     Chinese characters are quite artistic. Skilled workers also combine various hardwoods and metal     10    (create) special designs. It is generally held that chopsticks has begun to be called kuaizi since the Ming Dynasty. However, the term kuaizi was not widely used until the modern times.

9 . Here are some of the world’s most unusual events.

World Ice Golf Championship, Greenland

For more than 10 years the World Ice Golf Championship has been seen as the most extreme golf competition in the world. In 1997, architect Rolf Henning-Jensen was asked to design the world’s first ice golf course among huge iceberg and heavy snows of Uummannaq, a small town on the west coast of Greenland-600 km north of the Arctic Circle. There golfers face extreme temperatures as their first task to deal with. Then it will take players time and patience to accommodate themselves to white “green” and orange balls to play with. Determined by weather conditions, this event is scheduled for March each year in Greenland.

Balloon Fiesta, the United States

Have you ever been taken to the sky in a hot air balloon? The yearly Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta gives you the chance to enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the city and countryside. Since 1972, perfect October weather, blue skies and wind known as the “Albuquerque box” have worked together to allow balloonists to control their way thanks to the direction of blowing winds. This is the only place in the world to enjoy balloons flying in the blue skies each October.

El Colacho, Spain

The world’s most dangerous festival takes place every year in a small Spanish village Castillo de Murcia near Burgous. El Colacho means the devil’s jump and in fact this is the act of baby-jumping. Its purpose is to force a devil to leave the child’s body. Men dressed as devils jump over small babies to guard them against illness and bad spirits. Many consider the festival to be dangerous as “jumping devils” could hurt babies. But locals believe the action protects their babies from bad things and organize the jump in the streets, so people can watch or even join.