你是明启中学高二学生李华，最近上海博物馆推出了三款文创周边产品，吸引了不少年轻人追捧，分别是：（1）馆藏藏品日历 ；（2）中外艺术家明信片；（3） “丝绸之路”主题丝巾。
No. 1
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以上海博物馆馆藏藏品为主题的日历，印有中华古代水墨画、书法、历史文物的展品细节信息。 | 以中外名画为主题，色彩艳丽，可作为贺卡、明信片、书签使用。 | 以“帆船”为主题元素、以海上丝绸之路航线为底，以浅蓝色呼应瓷器配色，100%桑蚕丝材料。 |
售价：79元 | 售价：10元/ 张 | 售价：330元 |
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The Changing Spring Festival
The Spring Festival, as it is celebrated today, has undergone many changes, the country’s economic development and globalization.
No Spring Festival is complete without food. People could not get good food with desired in earlier times, something that does not apply to society today. The best time celebrate was when food was available in plenty, and that was possible in spring, or the beginning of the Lunar New Year. That was the main reason why the Spring Festival acquired such great importance among Chinese people. But three decades of economic growth has ensured that people in China can enjoy a good meal whenever they want. People seem not to long for delicious food like before during the Spring Festival due to the change in people’s fortune.
In the past, celebrations were limited to events like song-and-dance duets(二人转)in North China, dragon and lion dances in South China and fireworks. And economic development and urbanization seems to have ensured various forms of entertainment and communication. People can watch the Spring Festival Gala on TV or even on the cellphone.
Many customs associated with the Spring Festival have changed, too. In the past, people used to visit relatives and friends with gifts and lots of good wishes. Today, many people, especially the youth, use their cell phones or the Internet to send their good wishes and even “gifts” to their relatives and friends. Some may say this is a sign that people have become less caring about their near and dear ones, but we can see this development as a time-and energy-saving exercise granted by the information age.
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Long Journey
The majority of the world’s clothes, bags and shoes are manufactured in Asia. But the region’s brands have made little headway in the West. Of the ten most valuable global apparel (服装) labels ranked by Millward Brown, a market-research firm, only Uniqlo is Asian. Li-Ning, one of China’s best-selling sportswear brands, tried to enter America in 2010. It opened a flagship store in Portland, Oregon and later launched an English-language online store. Both failed.
What makes the journey so hard? Adjusting to Western tastes takes time. Although Uniqlo became the largest Japanese apparel brand by selling US-style clothing, it still encountered cultural barriers in America itself. For example, vests (背心) are one of Uniqlo’s most popular products at home, but relatively few Americans and Europeans wear an additional layer beneath their shirts, says Dairo Murata, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase, a bank. It was only two years ago the firm also realized that XL was not big enough in America; it now duly provides XXXL.
Another problem, at least outside the big cities, is price. Uniqlo takes pride in the use of high-tech, comfortable fabrics (布料)，an attempt to differentiate itself from other basic clothing brands like Gap and Old Navy. But at Danbury Fair, a Connecticut shopping mall that is a barometer for retail trends in the suburbs, people prefer Primark, a super-cheap Irish retailer (零售商) which recently opened, to Uniqlo, which shut up shop in June. Mall visitors are conservative about fashion and about spending, explains F.K. Grunert, its manager.
What still seems to work better is concentrating on urban centres, even though that means a smaller potential market. This month Uniqlo opened a stand-alone store in Manhattan’s Soho; such shops tend to do well. In 2002 it had 21 stores in Britain, dotted around the north-west, Midlands and south-east; now eight of the ten it still has are in London.
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New look on the Museum
Museums have changed. They are no longer places for the privileged few or for bored vacationers to visit on rainy days.
At a science museum in Ontario, Canada you can feel your hair stand on end as harmless electricity passes through your body. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, you can look at 17 century instruments while listening to their music. At the Modern Museum in Sweden, you can put on costumes provided by the Stockholm Opera. As these examples show, museums are reaching out to new audiences, particularly the young, the poor and the less educated members of the population. As a result, attendance is interesting.
Many museums have changed in appearance. Some old, gray museums have been rebuilt, and the newer ones are open and modern in their architecture. Inside, there is modern lighting, color, and sound. Instead of displaying everything they own, museum directors show fewer objects and leave open spaces where visitor can gather and sit down. They also bring together in one display a group of objects drawn drawn from various parts of the museum to represent the whole lifestyle of region or a historical period. In one room, for instance, you may find materials, clothing, tools, cooking pots, furniture, and art works of a particular place and time.
More and more museum directors are realizing that people learn best when they can somehow become part of what they are seeing. In many science museums, for example, there are no guided tours. The visitor is encouraged to touch, listen, operate, and experiment so as to discover scientific principles for himself. The purpose is not only to provide fun but also to help people feel at home in the world of science. The theory is that people who do not understand science will probably fear it, and those who fear science will not use it to the best advantage.
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There's more of a connection between food and culture than you may think.
On an individual level, we grow up eating the food of our cultures. Many associate foods from our childhood with warm feelings and fond memories, tying us to our families.On a large scale, food operates as an expression of cultural identity, Traditional cuisine (烹饪法) is passed down from one generation to the next. Immigrants bring the food of their countries where they go, and cooking traditional food is a symbol of pride for their ethnicity (民族特色) as well as a means of coping with homesickness.
Many immigrants open their own restaurants and serve traditional dishes. However, the food does not remain exactly the same. Some ingredients needed to make traditional dishes may not be readily available, so the taste and flavour can be different from what they would prepare in their home countries. Additionally, immigrants who sell dishes have to alter the original dishes to satisfy a wider range of customers. Alterations to original dishes can create new flavors that still preserve the cultural significance of the dish.
What stays the same is the extent to which each country or community's unique cuisine reflects its unique history, lifestyle, values, and beliefs. For example, in China, harmony is a vital characteristic in almost every aspect of life. This is reflected in Chinese cuisine, where almost every flavour is used in a balanced way. Throughout history, Chinese people are of the belief that food not only needs to be nutritious but also needs to look appealing, so they put a lot of effort into decorating the dishes，with vibrant red as their traditional colour.
As the world becomes more globalized, it is easier to access cuisines from different cultures. We should not only accept our traditions through our culture's food but also become more informed about other cultures by trying their foods. It is important to remember that each dish has a special place in the culture to which it belongs, and is special to those who prepare it. Food is a window to culture, and it should be treated as such.
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