1 . Do you know anyone born in the Year of the Tiger? What’s their personality like? Are they brave, strong and sympathetic? If so, then they are a typical “tiger”. In Chinese culture, tigers symbolize power, energy, protection, generosity and unpredictability.     1     . That is why you can see in China images of tigers on the walls of temples and houses to ward off (挡住) disasters and danger.

Tigers have an important cultural significance not just in China, but across Asia. In the book Life of Pi, Canadian writer Yann Martel chose a Bengal tiger as the partner for Indian boy Pi on his survival adventure in the Pacific Ocean.     2     . It takes the tiger as its main theme when it tries to combine Eastern elements with European design.

In the West, lions are considered as the king of all beasts. Brave warriors were given the name “the lion”. But tigers are also seen as a very powerful animal.     3     , you can say to them, “easy tiger” in English. Another famous phrase is “Eye of the Tiger”, which means fierceness and strength.

    4     . If you ask my mom, she will tell you that my most precious toy while growing up was my toy tiger. I first learned about the beauty of tigers as a child, while watching animal documentaries. As a young animal lover, I felt so sad that they were an endangered species and I wanted to protect them. I hope that more people can learn about tigers.     5     .

Just like tigers serve as a symbol of protection in Chinese culture, I do hope my favorite animal will live freely in the eco-friendly environment.

2 . Different countries celebrate Christmas in different ways. We asked some of our friends to explain what happens in their countries. This is what they told us:

France

In France, Christmas is always called Noël. Everyone has a Christmas tree, sometimes decorated in the old way with red ribbons and real white wax candles. Fir trees in the garden are often decorated too with lights on all night.

Father Christmas is called Père Noël. The Christmas meal is an important family gathering with good meat and the best wine. Few people send Christmas cards. More people send New Year cards to wish everyone good luck and joy for the New Year. These days Christmas lunch is a starter of foie gras (a strong tasting pate made from goose liver) followed by lunch of seafood — usually including lobsters and oysters.

New Zealand

Christmas starts for us with gifts under the tree, to be opened on Christmas morning. Then it’s onto a Christmas lunch either at home or at one’s parents place. Turkey or chicken with all the trimmings (佐料) is eaten. Then comes tea time. It is a BBQ for friends and family to get together, and have a few beers or wines with the meal!

Russia

In the days of the Soviet Union, Christmas was not celebrated very much. New Year was the important time — when “Father Frost” brought presents to children. With the fall of Communism, Christmas can be openly celebrated either on December 25th; or more often on January 7th. This unusual date is because the Russian Orthodox church uses the old “Julian” calendar for religious celebration days. Special Christmas food includes cakes, pies and “meat dumplings”.

Sweden

The most important day is Christmas Eve. A special Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve — ham (pork), herring fish, and brown beans — and this is the time when families give presents to each other. Many people attend a church meeting early on Christmas Day.

6 . Sunday Bakeshop in Oakland, California, makes foods that mix American and Asian cultures. The restaurant makes foods that are cooked or baked in an oven. Many of them are sweet. For example, the shop sells something called a dim sum cookie. It looks like a sugar cookie but has sesame (芝麻) seeds on top and sweetened red beans inside. Dim sum is a word for Cantonese foods from southern China.

The dim sum cookie is Elaine Lau’s way of honoring her grandmother who would make a kind of food that had a similar taste. Lau’s restaurant also makes Chinese White Rabbit candy cookies. Those sweets would not be found in any bakery in Asia but are a mixture of Asian and Western foods. Lau said she speaks to Asian Americans and others at her store. She said: “We get a lot of comments, for example, ‘The cookies are just like little lovely kitties and puppies.’ ‘Oh this took me back to several years ago when I was growing up.’” She added that it was nice to create good memories and feelings with her pastries (糕点).

Bakeries that combine the feeling of growing-up Asians and Americans have been opening up more often in recent years. Traditional Asian ingredients are being mixed with European or American pastries into something new. The creations are a way for young Asian Americans to celebrate their identity.

“Older traditional Asian bakeries make foods that immigrants miss from their home country. The new bakeries celebrate Asian culture and are part of a natural progression,” said Robert Ku, who is an Asian American studies professor at Binghamton University in New York state. He also wrote the book Dubious Gastronomy: The Cultural Politics of Eating Asian in the USA.

“The bakers are showing that their foods, which mix cultures, are just as American as apple pie. It’s sort of the artistic side of Asian American identity that’s often ignored,” Ku said. “They’re instead really trying to fuse things together.”

8 . A Thai town’s popular “monkey festival” returned Sunday after a two-year break caused by the pandemic.

The fun event took place in Lopburi in central Thailand. There, thousands of monkeys ate lots of fruits and vegetables. The animals could be seen climbing on people and colorful fruit formations made of pineapples, bananas and even costly durians(榴莲).

“Today’s special is the durian, which is expensive. Lopburi monkeys like expensive things,” said Yongyuth Kitwatananusont. She has organised over 30 monkey festivals.

The huge fresh meal cost over $3,000. It is a yearly tradition for locals in Lopburi to thank the monkeys for doing their part in bringing tourists to the area, which is sometimes known as “Monkey Province”. The event takes place on the last Sunday in November.

The theme for this year’s festival was wheelchair monkeys. Yongyuth, the event organiser, planned to give 100 wheelchairs to people who have difficulty in walking.

Tourists have been slowly returning to Thailand after the government started a quarantine-free(免隔离)travel plan for vaccinated(已接种疫苗的)visitors in November. The country saw more than 100, 000 travelers in November. That is as many as the number of arrivals in the first 10 months of 2021.

The festival proved to be a popular event this year. Tourists were seen playing with monkeys with their cameras. “I’m really happy to get to see this and now I’ m thinking about going to the next festival, “ said Ayoub Boukhari, a visitor from Morocco. “It’s quite unexpected and the monkeys are quite lovely.”

The return of the tradition also pleased locals. “It’s the first time in two years that monkeys have got a chance to eat all kinds of fruits and vegetables,” said Lopburi local Thanida Phudjeeb. “I’m happy for them.”

9 . There are many traditions around the world that are interesting and fun, but there are also those that are bizarre (奇异的) and even a little cruel.

In Sweden it's common for parents to leave their babies outside to nap (小睡) even when the temperatures are below zero. Many of us would find this custom dangerous, but many Swedes actually consider it good for their babies. They believe that by exposing their young ones to their country's cold temperature they can help their babies to grow up healthily and protect them from diseases. They also believe doing so will help them sleep longer and better.

In Bali, Indonesia, babies are forbidden to touch the ground for three months. The reason is that during the baby's first months its connection to the “spirit” is still unbroken and clean and letting it touch the ground would defile it. For three months, the baby is constantly held in someone's arms―the father, mother, grandparents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and even neighbours. After 105 days, a special ceremony called the Nyabutan is held where the baby touches Mother Earth for the first time.

In Guatemala, it's common to see babies being bathed with cold water. Maya mothers commonly practise this bizarre ritual (仪式) with the belief that it's beneficial to the baby's health. Bathing their babies with cold water is also an effective means to eliminate heat rashes, and this custom helps babies sleep better.

Some Indians allow their babies to be thrown from temple roofs as high as 50 feet. This strange custom started 500 years ago and continues to this day, though there's a movement to ban it for obvious reasons. However, Hindus believe that performing this ritual brings good luck and health to their babies. Below the roof is a bed sheet that's held tightly by several men. The baby lands safely on the sheet. The tradition's practitioners and believers strongly prove that it's safe, saying no babies have ever been injured.