1 . On the night of 14th June 1904, New York’s Chinatown was in a deep gloom (低迷). For the past 20 years, the restaurants were filled with those crazy about a taste of real Chinese cooking “chop suey”. But suddenly, all that seemed at risk. A few days earlier, a chef named Lem Sen had arrived, saying he had invented it a decade before while working at a restaurant in San Francisco. His recipe had been stolen by an American diner to make money. Through his lawyer, he demanded restaurants pay him for using his recipe.

Chop suey was first mentioned by Chinese-American journalist Wang Chin Foo in a list of common dishes he thought most attractive to Western tastes. As he explained, “each Chinese cook has his own recipe. The main parts are pork, bacon, chicken, mushroom, bamboo shoots, onion, and pepper, while accidental ones are duck, beef, salted black beans etc. Yet it is often considered by Westerners that this is a ‘national dish of China’ more than any other dish they’ve known.”

Although a hyperbolic way to introduce this dish, it clearly showed that chop suey was indeed of Chinese origin. Where exactly its roots lay has been debated; but it was probably first cooked in Taishan, Guangdong, where most early immigrants to America had grown up. In 1866, the journalist Allan Forman noticed it as a delicious dish despite its “mysterious nature”, and nine years later, the first recipe appeared in magazines, with some un-Chinese ingredients thrown in.

It was not long before a myth making began. In 1896, Li Hongzhang visited New York, and newspapers mistakenly reported that while refusing Western dishes at a banquet (宴会), he had enthusiastically accepted a plate of chop suey. This caused a great hit, and many who never heard of it before simply assumed that it was introduced to the US by Li Hongzhang, which accidentally promoted the dish’s popularity.

4 . Living in two different cultures has its benefits and challenges. Although I was born in America, my parents emigrated (移民) to the US from Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is an island off the coast of India. The customs, traditions, and culture are the same in India as it is in Sri Lanka. When my parents came to the US, they continued to perform their customs and hold onto their beliefs and traditions. This has influenced me in several ways.

I have learned to speak three languages, including English. I eat a variety of foods and celebrate different holidays that have to do with my religion and culture. It is very fun when I get to interact with people of my nationality and speak to them in a different language. It is also a benefit because I get to celebrate with all my family and have different foods and learn new things about my culture. Sharing my culture and information about my nationality to others is very important to me. I feel that people should have a good understanding of who I am and what my life is like. I always try to incorporate (吸收) both American and Indian traditions, customs and foods.

Even though this can be a major advantage, there are many setbacks to be part of two cultures. All of my family was born in Sri Lanka, so I’m not a person of several different nationalities, such as Greek, Italian, German, and others. My cousins, my siblings and I are the only ones born out of Sri Lanka. Speaking a language at home and speaking another language at school can make me get confused. This is because sometimes I have trouble expressing my thoughts in English.

I have felt stuck between the two cultures at times, but I try not to think of two cultures as a setback, but as an advantage of being able to participate in different celebrations and get on with my American and Indian friends.

7 . Read Across America Day

Read Across America (RAA) is a day held annually on March 2nd that encourages children in every community to read and also encourages parents and teachers to celebrate the joy of reading. It’s a holiday that has been celebrated since 1998 and falls on the same day as children’s book author Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

This holiday dates back to May of 1997. This is when a small group of people at the National Education Association (NEA) came up with the idea to create a day of the year that celebrates reading among children. They reasoned that since many school football programs could get children engaged in the sport through pep rallies (鼓舞士气的集会), then why couldn’t the same thing be done for reading? So they decided to turn to a Read Across America program that was officially launched on March 2, 1998, and ever since it has continued to grow in size. Today, more than 50 national nonprofit and association sponsors (资助者) and more than 3. 3 million NEA members support the effort every year.

This holiday is celebrated in numerous ways. All over the country, libraries, schools and community centers hold special Read Across America events that promote reading in their communities. Teachers also develop special events on this day to encourage their students to read. The NEA also sponsors reading round tables and has an online store that allows people to buy everything they need for their RAA celebrations. This includes Dr. Seuss hats, RAA bookmarks, special RAA flash drives and even RAA mugs.

While recommended student reading lists vary from community to community, there are some books that always seem to pop up. Below is a partial(部分的) list of some of the books read by elementary, middle school and high school students.

8 . The Chongyang Festival falls on the 9th day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, so it is also known as the Double Ninth Festival.

The festival is held in the golden season of autumn, at harvest-time. The bright clear weather and the joy of bringing in the harvest make for a festival happy atmosphere. The Chongyang Festival is usually perfect for outdoor activities. Climbing a mountain, carrying a spray of dogwood (茱萸) and drinking chrysanthemum (菊花) wine have become the traditional activities of the festival.

The dogwood is a plant with a strong fragrance(香气), and is often used as a Chinese herbal medicine. People in ancient times believed it could drive away evil spirits and prevent one from getting a chill (寒意) in late autumn. So its history as a medicine goes back many centuries. But the custom of carrying a spray of dogwood during the Double Ninth Festival is slowly dying out and many people in the cities do not even know what a dogwood spray looks like.

Early in Han Dynasty, about 2000 years ago, people used to climb a high platform outside the capital city of Chang’ an on the occasion of the Chongyang Festival. For many, it was the last outing of the year before the onset of winter. The custom evolved (发展成) into present form, when people go climbing to get some exercises as well as enjoy the autumn scenery.

But what about those people who live in plains far from any mountain? The problem is solved by going for a picnic and eating cakes. The Chinese word for “cake” is “Gao”, a homonym (同音异义词) of the Chinese word for “high”. Mountains are high, so eating cakes can, by a stretch of the imagination, take the place of going for a climb.

10 . Learning the word for fish in Chinese can be a highly useful skill. Knowing how to say “fish” in Chinese is both practical and helpful in understanding cultural values.

The Chinese character for “fish”, written in the traditional form, is 魚 .       1     No matter what form it is written in, the word for fish in Chinese is pronounced like “yu”.

The pronunciation of fish in Chinese, “yú” is a homophone (同音字) for “abundance (充裕).”     2     As such, fish are a common symbol in Chinese art and literature, and they are very important in Chinese mythology (神话).

    3    The characters for this fish are 鲤鱼, pronounced “lǐ yú”. Pictures of this fish are also a common decoration for the Chinese New Year.

One of the most interesting Chinese myths about fish is the idea that a carp (鲤鱼) that climbs the waterfall on the Yellow River (known as the Dragon Gate) changed into a dragon.    4    In reality, each spring, carp come together in great numbers in the pool at the base of the waterfall.     5       It has become a common saying in China that a student facing examinations is like a carp trying to jump the Dragon Gate.