1 . When the leaves begin to change colors,it means one thing for many travelers：Fall festival season is here.If you’re interested in visiting a fall festival in America,here are some of the country’s best fall festivals for you to choose from.

Wellileet Oysterfest is a two-day event held in Wellfleet,Mass.The meeting on Cape Cod is one that the locals look forward to all year long.Feed on oysters(牡蛎）and other seafood，while you watch the fastest oyster-eaters in the world compete in the famous Oyster Shuck-Off,a competition for taking the outer covering of oysters.The competition is taken very seriously.

It takes place in Portland,Maine.The festival celebrates all that is best about Maine’s food and wine.This celebration is held every October,and includes the Maine Lobster Chef of the Year Competition and Savory Samplings at the Marketplace.The latter allows travelers to taste the best local food that Maine has to offer at Casco Bay.

If you’re looking for a fall festival that includes hay sculptures(干草雕塑)，take part in the yearly Killington Hay Festival.When you begin to see the giant hay sculptures,you’ll know you’ve arrived.Past sculptures have changed from a 20-foot-tall kangaroo to a family of penguins.

5 . Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday.The day after it has been known as Black Friday.It is the start of the holiday shopping season,and it has been the busiest shopping day of the year in the US since 2005.

Most stores offer big sales on Black Friday.They open their doors quite early in the morning.They try to attract shoppers with big discounts(打折).Some items(商品) like TVs and clothes are much cheaper than usual.    1     They hope that shoppers will buy gifts for other people while they are in the store.

Black Friday is a great time to go shopping.However,there are problems.The biggest one is that there are not enough low-priced items.Each store may only have a few.These items are in great need,so people stand in long lines to get them.    2     They may be hoping to get a low price on a TV or computer,but not everybody can get one.Some people leave,disappointed.

The situation makes people worried.Some Black Friday events have been crazy.There have been fights over toys among shoppers.Some workers have even been hurt by large crowds.But most Black Friday events are safe and fun.    3    

So where does the name “Black Friday” come from?It was first used in Philadelphia in the 1950s.    4     In the 1960s,stores tried to rename the day “Big Friday”.It did not stick.The name “Black Friday” continued to spread across the country.It seems that it is here to stay.

Now people all over the country take part in Black Friday events.    5     Stores have held Black Friday events in the UK,Australia,and Brazil since 2012.

6 . Spanish Weddings

Weddings are big and important things in Spain. You’re likely to find the whole family and the whole village turn out to celebrate.     1     Some of the traditional customs are similar to the modern customs, such as throwing rice, but others are less similar.

    2     The main part of a traditional wedding is that the groom presents the bride with 13 coins, which represent his promise to support her. However, times have changed and today’s brides and grooms exchange the coins as a symbol of the wealth they will equally share.

Traditional Spanish weddings do not include bridesmaids (伴娘) or groomsmen.     3     At the reception, the head table is traditionally set for 6 people: the bride, the groom and their parents.     4     Bridesmaids are a part of Spanish weddings.

During the wedding reception, the bride and groom go from table to table carrying a basket with small wedding presents. The men will be offered a cigar or a mini-bottle of wine. And the women will be offered a little present. This may be the time in which guests also “hand back” the preferred wedding gift: money in envelopes.     5    

7 . Armenian musician Astrid Poghosyan, a 29-year-old violinist, takes great pride in the Chinese name she picked for herself, Ma Xingxing. Last summer, she were busy making preparations for a series of in-person and online music events and cultural exchange programs. Poghosyan said she always put all her energies into the projects which she took part in, whether they were offline or online events, as she believed that every little effort would help her realize her music-related dreams.

“I believe music knows no borders, and cultural exchanges through music are especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic (流行病),” she said. Having studied and worked in China for 13 years, Poghosyan has now become a real China hand, skilled at the country’s language and culture. Such a multicultural background has certainly helped her stand out in her present job. For Poghosyan, the life she now leads is a far cry from when she first came to China in 2009 to learn to play the violin at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. At that time, Poghosyan could not speak a word of Chinese. “And my high-school-level English wasn’t of much help at that time,” she said. “So I decided to learn Chinese to solve the communication problem.”

She has a strong desire for Chinese movies, traditional festivals and history stories, all of which helped her through the difficult language-learning process. As she gradually buried herself in the Chinese language and culture, she also started to make Chinese friends and explore the energetic city life of Shanghai.

“Since I first came to Shanghai, I have always been impressed by the kindness of the people here,” she said. “Even when I couldn’t speak Chinese, in the first days, everyone I met gave me a big smile. Their smiles have made me feel the warmth of the city.”

8 . If it had not been for Fan Jinshi and her team, the world cultural heritage of Dunhuang Mogao Caves in a remote Chinese desert might have long been destroyed by sand, weather or humans.

Born in Beijing and raised in Shanghai, Fan has spent half a century fighting an uphill battle to preserve the ancient Buddhist wall paintings at Dunhuang, in Northwest China’s Gansu Province. The 1,653­-year­-old Dunhuang Mogao Caves are a huge collection of Buddhist art—more than 2,000 buddha figures and 45,000 square metres of paintings spread among 735 caves. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Archaeologist Fan was sent to Dunhuang after graduating from Peking University in 1963. While in Dunhuang, a remote village in the desert then, Fan lived in an abandoned temple. At first, she did not even dare to go out to the toilet at night. To protect the treasures from sand and dampness, Fan and other workers put doors on the caves, planted trees and started monitoring temperature and humidity in the caves. They also controlled the number of visitors.

In the late 1990s, with tourism booming nationwide since national holidays were extended, the local government planned to go public with Dunhuang Mogao Caves, but found Fan firmly in_their_way.   “The heritage would have been destroyed if it had been listed，” she said.

Dunhuang Academy has now photographed and cataloged online all the sculptures and paintings. “Despite our efforts to minimise damage, we can’t completely stop them from being eroded. But the digital database will last.”

Fan was grateful when her husband joined her in Dunhuang in 1986 after 19 years of separation. Her two sons grew up seldom with her accompany. “I have not been a good mother or wife. With regard to my family, I’m full of guilt，” she said. Fan, 81, retired four years ago as the director of Dunhuang Academy but continues her efforts as a national political adviser.

9 . India is an ancient civilization with its rich cultural heritage,and its cultural heritage has something to do with all major religions of the world. Here we take a look at some of the top heritage destinations in India.

Sun Temple,Konark

As the name suggests this temple is all about the power of the sun God. A huge chariot (二轮战车) drawn by seven horses and twelve pairs of wheels reflects the importance which ancient people placed on the power of the sun. The pictures of animals and humans give this place a special look.

Churches Goa

Goa is the only Indian state which was controlled by the Portuguese,so the scene in Goa is dotted with Portuguese style churches.Some of the famous churches include the Church of Saint Catherine,Church of Saint Augustine and Church of Saint Francis of Assisi.These churches show beautiful paintings and flower designs which make them a must-visit.

Ajanta and Ellora Caves

These caves contain well-designed paintings which are widely regarded as the most outstanding works of Buddhist religious art.

Taj Mahal,Agra

Built on the bank of the Yamuna River,it is an excellent building.The writing and paintings on the outside structure provide the finest examples of the outstanding style of buildings.

Sanchi

Sanchi is a UNESCO world heritage site with numerous Buddhist temples dating back to the seventh and eighth centuries.

On your visit to India,be sure to visit some of these heritage destinations.An Indian journey is not wonderful without experiencing the beauty of these heritage destinations.

10 . The winter solstice(冬至)is an important solar term in the traditional Chinese calendar, and means the coming of winter. It generally occurs between December 21st and 23rd. According to the traditional Chinese calendar, one year is divided into twenty-four solar terms. On this day, in the northern hemisphere the period of daytime is the shortest of the year and the period of night is the longest.

In northern China there is a custom of eating dumplings during the winter solstice. The tradition of eating dumplings during the winter solstice has its origin in early times. It is said that dumplings were invented by Zhang Zhongjing, a well-known doctor in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

One winter, he noticed that many people's ears were frostbitten, which made him sad. In order to prevent and cure the freezing injury caused by cold, he asked his followers to boil mutton, chilies and other ingredients with medicinal properties in a pot for fending off cold. After these were boiled, they ladled(舀)the mutton and other ingredients out of the pot, cut them into pieces, and then wrapped them in dough skins in the shape of ears. Afterwards, they put these into the pot to boil again.

On the day of the winter solstice, people whose ears were frostbitten were sent to eat the dumplings. People who ate dumplings felt warm from head to toe and had their cold injury healed. Thereafter, people ate dumplings every winter solstice. Then it became a custom that if you eat dumplings during the winter solstice, your ears won't get frostbite.

Afterwards, Zhang Zhongjing died on the day of the winter solstice. In order to honour him, every year on the day of the winter solstice every household makes dumplings.