3 . It is always said that China is the homeland of tea, which has a very long history of tea.     1     However, unlike the western custom of using a convenient teabag, Chinese go to a lot of effort and time to prepare good tea for their guests, using tea leaves, natural spring water and a special kettle etc. to create worldwide famous tea culture. Tea is not just a drinkable beverage(饮料), but also a taste of Chinese traditional culture and inheritance(继承) of spirit. Unsurprisingly, there are various tea leaves in China.     2    

➢Color

    3     Good green tea leaves have jade green with fresh vitality. Twisted pan green tea shows glossy gray green. If some of the tea leaves have dry, dark and brown colors, it means it is old tea. If the leaves have mixed, large contrast colors, it is believed that the tea is mixed with yellow leaves, old leaves and even old tea, which does not live up to the standard of good tea.

➢Flavor(味道)

New tea is extremely clear and transparent with strong aroma(芳香), while old tea is characterized by brown color and weak fragrance. Take green tea and black tea for example, new green tea tastes a little bitter first, and then the fresh sweet taste begins to surface gradually, leaving a long and memorable after taste in mouth.     4    

➢Place of origin

There is great gap of quality among various places of origin.     5     For example, it is well-known that Yunnan produces the best quality Pu'er tea and premium Oolong tea can be found within Fujian Province.

4 . Cinco de Mayo is probably the holiday most often celebrated that no one understands.

Literally (根据字面意思) “Fifth of May”, Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican Holiday celebrating the Battle of Puebla, which took place on May 5, 1862. In 1861, France sent a big army to invade Mexico, as they wanted to collect some war debts. The French army was much larger, better trained and equipped than the Mexicans struggling to defend (保卫) the road to Mexico City. The French army reached Puebla, where the Mexicans won a huge victory. The victory was short-lived, as the French army regrouped and continued, and eventually took Mexico City, but the joy of an unlikely victory against France is remembered every May fifth.

Mexico celebrates its independence on September 16, because it was on that day in 1810 that Father Miguel Hidalgo invited his people to take up arms and join him in fighting against Spanish rulers. Independence Day is a much more important holiday in Mexico. For some reason, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated more in the United States of America, by Mexicans and Americans alike, than it is in Mexico. One theory for why it is more popular in the USA is that at one time, it was celebrated in all of Mexico and by Mexicans living in former Mexican areas such as Texas and California. It was ignored in Mexico after a while but still celebrated in the north of the border, which never got out of the habit of remembering the famous battle.

In Puebla and in many American cities with large Mexican populations, there are parades, dancing and festivals. Traditional Mexican food is often served or sold. Mariachi (街头音乐) bands fill town squares, and a lot of beers are served. It’s a fun holiday, really more about celebrating the Mexican way of life than about remembering the battle which happened 156 years ago. In the USA, schoolchildren decorate their classrooms and try their hand at cooking some basic Mexican food. All over the world, Mexican restaurants bring in mariachi bands and offer specials for what’s almost certain to be a packed house.

5 . The Qingming Festival is celebrated with a three-day national holiday, whose name originates from the saying “Plants start to revive and prosper at Qingming in a clean and bright way. Thus, the festival is called Qingming,” which means clean and bright.     1    . Tomb sweeping aims to commemorate family ancestors while going on a spring outing allows everyone the chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery and enjoy the season.

Tomb sweeping.     2     on this day, the whole family gathers in front of their ancestral tombs. They offer fruit and wine to their ancestors and clean the weeds from around the tomb. Finally, they kowtow and pray, hoping for their ancestors' blessing for the rest of the year.

Spring outing. The time around the Qingming Festival is one of the most suitable seasons fora spring outing, as plants are thriving and flowers are blooming. People can have a great time outdoors with their friends and family.     3    

Qingtuan, a green rice ball tiny enough to fit into your hand, is also called Qingmingguo or Aiguo.     4     It is a mixture of sticky rice powder and green vegetable juice. stuffed with sweetened bean paste, Qingtuan tastes sweet with the fresh fragrance of Aicao, a green spring vegetable, In celebration of Qingming, people from Shaanxi make steamed buns, known as Huamo, made into different shapes.     5     Some are for peaceful family life while others represent the wish for health.

8 . Vietnam aims to solve the relations between economic development and cultural preservation. Vietnamese cultural departments and activists have tried to preserve the historical and cultural relics in the country.

Vietnam now has more than 40,000 historical relics. These relics of various forms and history are treasures for future generations.

However, hundreds of relics are severely damaged due to the negative influence of time, war and human activities. Head of Hanoi Relics Management Board, Nguyen Doan Tuan, says rescue work must preserve the relics’soul: “We cannot replace ruined construction with new materials. We must preserve its shape, size and style. We need to pay attention to every brick replaced so that it looks exactly like the original.”

Most relics have to rely on tourist fees for repair and rescue work. Director of Van Mieu Cultural and Science Center, Dang Kim Ngoc, says that the relics must be promoted widely to attract more visitors and bring in more income for repair and preservation: “We provide constant guide services for visitors so that they understand more about our relics. At the same time, a natural surrounding of the relic has been ensured, including the grass field and garden to improve its scenic value.”

The local government agreed that the relics must be turned to the community for shared efforts in the preservation work. Director of Vietnam Revolution Museum Dang Quoc Quan, said that the community must be guided in the preservation and protection, “The UNESCO aims to let local community take part in the preservation of relics. We have seen limitations in the preservation of relics, especially festival-related groups of buildings. This requires management and guidance by the government.”

Nguyen Thi Minh Ly from the Department of Heritage says the community should be guided in proper behaviors towards relics: “This will ensure the protection of cultural relics in later generations Creative restoration (修复) must be based on previous(先前的) values.”

Experts have called for a systematic(系统的)guidance by the state in local level preservation while promoting creative thinking in restoration for each relic.

9 . In New York City, eating on the subway is controversial. No law bans the practice, but a Democratic state senator introduced one last week. The proposed law would ban eating on the subway system and fine first time violators $250, according to the New York Times. Supporters of the bill argue that eating on the subway attracts rates. Other say the broader target should be those who carelessly drop litter in public places, rather than those who carefully sip their coffee and eat their bread on the way to work. They also argue that “street food” is an important part of New York’s culture and history. Banning its consumption in public areas such as the subway would have negative effects.

Street food and eating in public places is along-established cultural practice in cities like New York, Beijing and Paris. But commonly, it has been traditionally thought of as what the lower classes would do. Eating in public was (and in some places, still is) associated with uncivilized, poorer people. In the 19th century, eating in public was seen as a threat to morality and public health. Putnam’s (a popular magazine at the time) stated, “Eating in public may lead to a certain freedom of manner in little ladies and gentlemen. It was something people in the Victorian era did not want to encourage. A recent New York Times article drew a link between this moral panic about street food and concern over the growing populations of Irish German, Italian and Jewish immigrants who ran food carts in the 1800s. “To Victorian society, immigrant street peddlers were called ‘hucksters’, a name that still has a bit of moral judgment to this day.”

In Australia, street food is not something you see every day. Carts selling tasty snacks only come out for festivals or market days. However, eating in public places such as parks is encouraged. Outdoor barbeques at the beach or picnics in the countryside are common. While eating on public transport is discourages, it would unlikely lead to any sort of conflict in Australia. From an Australian perspective, street food is an exciting and tasty new dining opportunity, and not one I would associate with being uncivilized.

China’s street food scene is similar to that of New York City’s: It is a culturally entrenched practice and one that adds a lot of color and flavor to the scene of streets. But whether you love eating street food, or have to eat your breakfast on the run, it’s best to be considerate when enjoying a bite in public.

10 . Children’s Games in Ancient China

Unlike the children nowadays, the children during ancient times didn’t have smartphones or computers to entertain themselves.     1    . Let’s take a look.  

Kicking stone balls

During the Qing Dynasty, kicking a stone ball around was a popular sport in the northern part of China, and it was often played in the winter to keep warm. Stones were carved into small balls and kicked along with feet.

Flying kites

Kites have quite a long history. The earliest kites were made of wood, instead of paper. Nowadays, the three most famous kites are the Beijing kite, Tianjin kite and Weifang kite.     2    . For example, the swallow-shaped kite is a well-known Beijing style.  

Playing hide-and-seek

Hide-and-seek is a traditional game for children, popular around the nation. Even nowadays, many children like playing it. There are two ways to play. One way is covering a child’s eyes while other kids run around to tease him.     3    .  

    4    

The closest thing to watching a film or television for entertainment during ancient times was going to see a shadow play. Folk artists manipulate puppets behind the screen, narrating stories and accompanied by music.

Setting off firecrackers

Firecrackers have a history of more than 2, 000 years. It is said that there was a beast named “Nian” in ancient China.     5    . After gunpowder was invented, it gradually replaced the bamboo joint cracker. Crackers are still set off during the Spring Festival to symbolize auspiciousness (吉祥).