1 . UNESCO has added Italian opera singing, along with more than 50 other practices from around the world, to its list of Intangible (无形的) Cultural Heritage. The agency created the list in 2008 to help safeguard traditions, festivals, rites of passage, art forms and other practices across the globe. It also recognizes culturally and historically significant buildings, structures and properties with its well-known list of World Heritage Sites. It originates from the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2023.

With UNESCO’s decision, opera singing joins several other Italian traditions on the list, like pizza making. “Performed by people of all genders, Italian opera singing is associated with specific facial expressions and body gestures and involves a combination of music, drama, acting and staging,” writes UNESCO.

The practice dates back to the Medici family in Florence in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Jacopo Peri’s Dafne, which was performed for the Medicis in 1598, is considered the first Italian opera. “This is a confirmation of what we’ve already known: Opera singing is a world excellence,” says Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italy’s culture minister, in a statement.

A wide variety of cultural practices, food dishes and festivals also made the list at UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage meeting in Botswana. The committee narrowed down nominations submitted by 72 nations, ultimately selecting 55 to add to the list. The full list now includes 730 practices from 145 countries. Six of the new additions are “in need of urgent safeguarding”, according to UNESCO. These include Syrian glassblowing, olive cultivation in Türkiye and a traditional Malaysian performance called Mek Mulung. The non-urgent additions include several annual events, such as the Rotterdam Summer Carnival in the Netherlands, the Sango Festival of Oyo in Nigeria, the Junkanoo in the Bahamas and the Shuwalid festival in Ethiopia.

2 . The Chinese New Year is all about starting things anew. So, in the week leading up to the festival, people do a thorough cleaning of their home to get rid of bad luck. This should all be done before New Year’s Day though, as showering is not allowed on the day! At the same time, it is also not allowed to sweep or throw out garbage until the 5th day of the festival. This is so people don’t wash out the good luck! There are also a few no-no’s during the Chinese New Year, which everyone should avoid doing for the15 days. It is taboos to get a haircut, argue, swear, say unlucky words, use scissors or knives and break things.

The New Year’s Eve meal is still the most important of the year for Chinese families, and throughout the 15 days, it is common to go to different relatives’ houses to share food. These feasts are abundant and delicious, with a variety of traditional Chinese food and special wine.

There are different practices and celebrations on each of the festival’s 15 days. For example, it is believed that the Gods of Wealth come down on the 5th day of the New Year, so people pray to them and set off firecrackers in their honor. The 15th and final day of the New Year festival is known as the Festival of Lanterns, so people hang paper lanterns on the streets and their homes, and carry them on parades.

There are also different symbols used during the Chinese New Year, each one with its own meaning: It is common for Red Envelopes to be filled with money and given to children or adults with no job. Usually, these red envelopes are gifted by established married couples to their single friends, or from elders to the children . Their purpose is to transfer (转移) the fortune and luck from the givers to the gifted.

During the festivities, there are dancing dragon performances, as the creature is believed to bring good luck, good fortune, and prosperity (繁荣). Flowers, tangerines, and oranges are displayed as a sign of good luck and wealth. Decorations are Red, made of paper and shaped like a diamond (钻石), and usually have writings on them referring to luck and prosperity.

3 . Hans is a young German born after 1995, who is a big fan of Chinese culture. He has been learning traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) since 2016. Now he is studying for his master’s degree at Henan University of Chinese Medicine.

As he thought some diseases can’t be treated thoroughly with Western medicine, he decided to research into TCM. Hans came to Central China’s Henan Province in 2015, where a rich TCM culture can be enjoyed because Henan Province is the hometown of Zhang Zhongjing, the medical master of ancient China. After one year of learning the Chinese language, he started to learn Chinese medicine. Hans thought TCM is one of the best-preserved aspects of Chinese culture. He hopes to solve problems and understand Chinese culture deeply by learning TCM.

Without a language barrier, Hans read some of the ancient Chinese medical classics, such as Huangdi Neijing and Yi Jing. He believes different aspects of traditional Chinese culture interact with each other.

Studying TCM also changed Hans’ mind and lifestyle. He used to be addicted to electronic devices and stay up late every night, trapped in this fast-paced but unhealthy daily routine. But now, according to the Yin-Yang theory in TCM, he lives a balanced and peaceful life,   practicing good habits such as drinking tea and meditating, as well as reading ancient books.

Hans also uses what he has learned to help his family. Previously, acupuncture tools and Chinese medicine were necessities when he went back to his home in Germany. With acupuncture and Chinese-style massages, various physical disorders of his family have been well-treated. Now, he always provides his family members with some advice about staying fit after he checks their skin or tongues online. Over time, his family gradually began to understand his passion for TCM.

He plans to run a traditional Chinese clinic in China or Germany after graduation, which could serve as a bridge between the two countries and publicize TCM and its culture.

4 . In North America, October usually means pumpkin fields, Halloween or mountain tours. But in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the beginning of October brings you a different but impressive scene.    1    .

Started in 1972, the Albuquerque International Fiesta enjoys its 50th anniversary this year.     2    , and is the largest gathering of balloonists in the world, with more than 500 hot air balloons flying high in the sky this week. The local people can view the flying balloons simply by stepping outside their homes and looking up.

    3    . The park sits on the northern outskirts of Albuquerque with the Sandia Mountains a few miles away. The land has a spectacular beauty of colors — the autumn air has dyed the woods green, yellow and red, and the mountain takes on a pink hue (色调) with the sun shining against its western face at sunset.

The Balloon Fiesta claims to be the most photographed event in the world, and it’s easy to understand why.     4    . In two waves, they are released from the ground and fly up, decorated with every color and some shaped like animals or cartoon characters. In the age of jets and helicopters and rockets, the mass celebration of nearly silent flight reminds us of the magic of flying:     5    .

5 . Fourteen dancers wearing jumpsuits filled with sponge (海绵) and with special cotton in their mouths recreate the slightly fat figures of Tang Dynasty females. They line on stage with amusing facial expressions and humorous motions. Suddenly, they are surrounded by antiques and the next second, they are hanging around in the ancient masterpieces of Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains.

Like in a dream, audiences travelled back with the dancers to the wealthy Tang Dynasty. The magic—like dance program, namely Tang Gong Ye Yan (Night Banquet in Tang Dynasty Palace), was released in the Spring Festival gala of 2021 by Henan TV. The video has been watched 48.62 million times on Sina Weibo, and the view counts of related topics have passed 200 million on Tiktok by Feb 19. It has enlightened people’s passion toward the beauty of traditional culture, and consequently also spread overseas, appreciated by culture lovers around the world.

The dance has become a representation of guochao, which expresses the rise of China’s native fashion trends. A group of young artists have begun to try to demonstrate traditional Chinese culture in different ways. One of the pioneers is Chen Lei, director of the gala. In his opinion, the dance, in which modern technologies such as 3D and AR are used, is a combination of rich treasures of China’s traditional culture and modern technologies, fashions and aesthetic (美学).

Chen told the Global Times that with the development of China, Chinese young people feel more confident to promote Chinese trends to the international stage. He believes traditions shouldn’t be sealed in glass boxes at museums or merely taught in the classroom, but combined with the digital world. Otherwise, the inheritance (传承) of traditions would be artificial and empty.

7 . Yangzhou paper cutting, with a history of 2,000 years, can be dated back to the Sui Dynasty, making Yangzhou one of the places where paper cutting first became popular.

In the Sui Dynasty, the people of Yangzhou would cut colourful paper or silk and satin (缎子) to celebrate festivals. It is said that Emperor Yang came to Yangzhou three times. In winter, the flowers and trees in the garden became dry and weak. The emperor ordered the gril servants to cut fine silk and satin into flowers and leaves and use them to decorate the trees and lakes. Since then, “colorful cutting” has become a popular art in Yangzhou.

In the Tang Dynasty, the paper cutting industry was highly developed and a large amount of high-quality paper was made as presents to the Court (宫廷).

In the Qing Dynasty, because of the economic development, the people of Yangzhou became interested in wearing fine clothing, especially embroidered (刺绣的) clothing. The embroidered designs were based on paper-cuts, the most well-know of them was from Bao Jun, a paper cutting master. He won a high reputation (名声) as Magic Scissors for his wonderful cutting skills.

After the People’s Republic of China was started, the Chinese government accepted the importance of paper cutting like many other arts and skills. In 2007, China Paper-cuts Museum opened to the public in the back garden of the Wang’s Residence (住所), Yangzhou, greatly helping the development of Yangzhou paper cutting.