The Lantern Festival arrives as the first full moon of the new lunar year lights up the sky.     1     (know) as Yuan Xiao Jie in Chinese, it falls on February 15 this year.     2     one of major traditional Chinese festivals, it is celebrated on the 15th of the first lunar month,     3     (mark) the end of celebrations of the Chinese New Year.

It is time     4     (admire) lanterns, guess lantern riddles and watch lion or dragon dances and art performances. In addition to diverse lanterns and games, another important tradition of the festival     5     (be) eating glutinous rice (糯米) balls, known as yuanxiao or tangyuan. In     6     (vary) regions across China, people prepare different foods to mark the occasion.

Yuanxiao are popular in northern China while tangyuan dominate (控制) the south. They are both soft glutinous rice balls with fillings. Although similar in     7     (appear), there are some differences in terms of cooking and storage. Yuanxiao should be boiled for at least 10 minutes, while tangyuan can     8     (serve) after around five minutes of cooking. The former have shorter durability period while the latter can be stored for     9     (long) time when kept in cold environment.

The practice of eating these rice balls is a way of     10     (pay) respect to the moon and praying for family reunion, harmony and happiness.

2 . Different countries celebrate festivals in their own unique ways. The same goes for the New Year. Let’s take a look at some unique New Year traditions from around the world.

If you walked out of your front door to find a load of smashed plates, you might be a bit confused. But that’s exactly what people in Denmark hope to find after midnight, as it represents good luck. Danish people go and smash a plate in front of a friend’s door on New Year’s Eve to bring good luck over the next 12 months.

In New York City, Times Square is the centre of the countdown to midnight. But the thing that everyone is looking forward to is called the “ball drop”, which is when a glowing (发光的) ball is lowered down a big flag pole (旗杆), marking the start of the New Year. Other cities in America now have their own traditions of dropping things on New Year’s Eve. For example, in Vincennes, Indiana, people drop watermelons from high places.

When the clocks hit midnight in Spain, you’ll find people reaching for grapes. This is because there is a tradition of eating one grape each time the clock strikes midnight. The idea is that this will bring people 12 lucky months in the year ahead.

In some South American countries like Colombia, you might see some people on New Year’s Eve walking around with an empty suitcase. Some hold the belief that taking a “suitcase walk” means they will have a year full of adventures.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is a Chinese holiday that     1    (celebrate) in China for centuries. It is one of the Chinese Twenty-four Solar Terms, which falls on either April 4^th     2     5th of the Gregorian calendar. It’s also a time for people to remember family members     3     have passed away.

The day is also regarded as the start of spring. As trees turn green and the sun shines brightly, people will go outside and enjoy the     4    (amaze) spring. They will take this opportunity to travel together and go on long walks in parks, laughing and     5    (chat). Therefore, Tomb-Sweeping Day not only is a day     6    (memorize) the dead, but it is also a time for people to enjoy     7       (they). There are many different activities, such as taking a spring outing, or flying kites.

On Tomb Sweeping Day, people often eat a kind of green colored balls     8    (make) from glutinous rice(糯米). The green color is from     9     juice of brome grass(雀麦草) that is added in the rice.

All in all, Tomb-Sweeping Day is a combination of sadness and     10    (happy).

5 . Traditions are customs and beliefs that form a part of our culture. They are practiced to remind us of our history and are passed down from generation to generation. Some traditions are interesting and widespread, while others are quite strange and practiced only by a small group of people. Continue reading to dig more into some interesting traditions from around the world.

Also known as “Wet Monday”, Smigus Dyngus is a unique tradition practiced in Poland, where people throw water at each other. It is celebrated annually on Easter Monday. The traditional way to do it is for boys to throw water at girls, and it is believed that the girl who receives the most water has the greatest chance of getting married.

There is an old tradition in Sagada where people hang their coffins in stone caves. It was carried out by the Igorot tribe (部落) of Mountain Province. The people there believe this custom prevents large animals from taking the dead bodies, and also purifies or blesses the departed soul.

Family members and friends of future married couples meet at dinner, and break a lot of porcelain (瓷器). The couple is then asked to clean up the entire mess. This is supposedly to teach them the importance of unity and hard work, and bring good luck. Germans think this tradition is essential in making marriages last a lifetime.

The Boryeong Mud Festival in the ROK is a fascinating and unique celebration that draws crowds from around the world. It is a major cultural event, attracting over a million visitors annually. People participate in various mud-related activities, including mud baths, mud wrestling and even a mud marathon. The festival features live music, food stalls, and wonderful street performances.

6 . Some Christmas traditions are pretty standard in mainstream（主流）American culture: put up the tree, string up the lights, visit grandma, and so on.

Then there’s the one my Colombian family does every year: the Novena de Aguinaldos. We pray（祈祷）for nine days without a stop, and this Novena counts down the nine days before Christmas. Most Americans have never heard of it, but in Colombia, it’s a big deal.

Like all good traditions, especially around the holidays, this tradition is about community and getting together with friends and family. My family immigrated（移民）from Colombia when I was just two months old. Every year, we gather with a group of Colombian friends for as many of the nine nights as we can.

There are three parts to the Novena de Aguinaldos. The first is the reading: each kid takes turns to read a book. Next comes the gozos, which means “The Joys”. That’s where the music comes in, and everyone gets an instrument, a maraca, a drum, a tin can—whatever you can use to make a sound. And then, the villancicos——Spanish Christmas carols（颂歌）come.

I’ve lived my whole life in the US. There’s not a lot of Colombian culture that we still hang onto. Why do we still carry on with the tradition of celebrating the Novenas, then?

When I asked my parents the other day, the answer was that immigrants didn’t belong anywhere—not where you were, nor where you were from. So my parents helped create a space where we did. Even if the Novenas were nothing like what we might have celebrated if we’d stayed in Colombia, the Novenas became the heart of our community.

But our Novenas are starting to feel a little more breakable. It’s getting harder and harder for everyone to get together each year. Last year, I was studying abroad in Italy and couldn’t make it to any gathering; my brother went off to college and had exams late into December; my sister just moved to a new city, and my parents have taken up jobs in different countries.

KUNMING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- The Dai ethnic group in southwest China’s Yunnan Province has been busy     1     (celebrate) its New Year, with local Dai people and crowds of tourists observing a grand water-splashing festival. After being suspended (暂停) for three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic,     2     traditional water-sprinkling festival has come back.

The three-day festival, from Thursday to Saturday,     3     (regard) as the most important festival observed by the Dai people. During the festival, local people dress up and splash (泼) water on each other as a way     4     (express) good wishes and wash away all the bad luck from the previous year, thus beginning a new year of     5     (happy) and good fortune.

The water festival is celebrated by over 1.3 million Dai people living in China, mainly in Yunnan’s Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture     6     in the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture. The Dai people live in the rich lowland agricultural     7     (area) along the major rivers such as the Mekong River. Their culture is much like Thai culture, and they are     8     (close) related to Thai. Along     9     lowland rice agriculture, the Dai grow rubber trees and specialty teas, especially the expensive Pu’er variety.

    10     (vary) activities were also staged during the festival, such as colorful dragon boat races and spectacular dance and musical performances.