2 . The 3D animated movie Tea Pets was released in China on July 21 and fired people’s enthusiasm in learning more about the increasingly popular tea pets-porcelain (陶瓷的)figures placed on tea trays. The followings are some typical tea pets with various forms and shapes.

Pi Xiu

Tea pets in the form of Pi Xiu -a mythical animal similar to a Chinese unicorn - are very popular among businessmen. In traditional Chinese culture, Pi Xiu, the ninth son of a dragon, can bring fortune to people. It only takes money as food and never lets it out. Moreover, it is believed that pi xiu can protect a house from evil spirits.

Three-legged toad

In Chinese myths, three-legged toads spit money from their mouth and help the poor. Thus, it has been considered a lucky animal for a long time in Chinese culture. If you’re a fan of Harry Potter series, this little toad might be a good reminder of Hogwarts and magic.

Little foot with a spider

In the shape of a little fat foot with a spider on it, this tea pet might look strange to non-Chinese speakers. In the Chinese language, spider is zhi zhu and foot zu. When the two pronunciations are combined, it would be a homophone (同音字)for “satisfied” in Chinese. It is designed to remind people of having a satisfied attitude towards life and being grateful for every little gain.

The best way to raise a tea pet is to brush it with the fresh tea you are drinking. Only use one kind of tea to pour on a tea pet, rather than many kinds. Oolong, such as Tie Guanyin, and green tea are better choices to raise a tea pet apart from Pu’er tea.

3 . Living in a different country can be a culture shock for many people, so make sure you know about the food, customs and culture of the place you are planning on moving to.     1    . Here is some of my experience of moving from Spain to the UK.

    2    

The first thing that I did when I got out of the airport was to cross the road, but I looked the wrong way! In the UK the cars drive on the lefthand side of the road whereas in Spain they drive on the right. I almost got run over because I was still thinking I was in Spain. You have to be very careful when you move to another place.

Drink water

    3    . In the UK the filtering (过滤) of the water means that you can drink straight from the tap. On my first night back I forgot that I could drink water from the taps and spent the night wishing I had a bottle of water. When I woke up, I realized how silly I had been.

Time is different

If we are going for a proper night out at the weekend in Spain we might not meet until 10 or 11 pm at night or even later sometimes. This means we might not actually get home until 5 or 6 o’clock the following morning.     4    !

Greet everyone with a kiss

In the UK most men use a handshake to greet other men.     5    . Women may be greeted with a handshake, a hug or a kiss on the cheek, depending on the situation. In Spain, among my friends, everyone is greeted with a kiss on both cheeks and maybe a quick hug.

The second day of the second lunar month every year is the conventional Chinese festival,     1    (mark) the start of spring ploughing(春耕). People hold the     2    (believe) that on this day the dragon lifts his head and that after this day rainfall increase with the rain bringing Dragon King awoken from his winter sleep. So there is     3     well-known phrase going Er yue er, long tai tou.

The festival celebrates ancient agrarian(耕地的) Chinese culture.     4     some of traditional ways to celebrate it are no longer practiced, others go on. The most famous tradition is getting a haircut.     5     is believed that going to the barter’s on this day can get rid     6     bad luck.

The     7    (tradition) foods of this festival vary from area to area. On this day, people in Fujian Province make tofu and vegetable balls     8    (pray) for family and business. Eating fried beans is the tradition in parts of Shandong Province. People in Suzhou tend to eat chengyao cake     9    (make) with sticky rice in honor of the saying, “If you cat chengyao cake on Longtaitou, your waist won’t hurt all year.” Meanwhile, other foods. like dumplings, spring rolls and popcorn.     10    (name) dragon body parts on the day.

Every summer artists perform at Fringe Festivals around the world. Fringe Festivals are     1     celebration of strange art instead of traditional art. The shows give artists a chance     2    (create) unusual art. For Festival goers, each show is a time to experience something different.

The first Fringe Festival     3    (hold) in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1947. Artists     4     around the world travelled to Scotland for the Edinburgh International Festival. Today there are hundreds of Fringe Festivals     5    (take) place around the world. The one in Washington D. C. called the Capital Fringe Festival,     6     is held in July, is in its tenth year. Julianne Brienza     7    (found) the Capital Fringe Festival. She went to school for the performing arts, but now sees herself as an     8    (organize) of the festival. Brienza believes that fringe performance art is special and can have a     9    (power) effect. She also says it will become     10    (popular) with more people taking part in it.

10 . Elaine Su shared her experience of asking her neighbors to put up Lunar New Year decorations, helping her two-year-old son experience the festival as part of the large community. In a neighbourhood mostly consisting of non-Chinese residents, more than half of the households complied the tradition as well.

Interviewing her for the story provoked my own memories of celebrating Lunar New Year. The holiday was a big deal for me as a kid growing up in Jiangsu.

Legend says the holiday originated with the fight against a mythical beast called Nian, who came down from the mountains to hunt people on New Year’s Eve. Villagers discovered that Nian feared the colour red, candle light and loud noise. So they began to decorate with the vibrant hue, light their homes with lanterns and set off firecrackers to prevent its return.

On New Year’s Eve, my family would come together to celebrate with food prepared by my grandma. Moments before the countdown, the sound of firecrackers would fill every corner of our apartment and the celebrations continued into the next day.

For breakfast, we would eat yuan xiao, a kind of glutinous rice ball, which symbolizes the idea of reunion. Then, it was off to visit my grandparents, who were already awaiting us and my other extended family with lucky money and more traditional delicacy!

My favourite part of the holiday came after the adults were playing mahjong. My cousins and I were finally freed from our parents. With all the lucky money, we hit the streets and bought more snacks and more firecrackers!

Having immigrated to Canada for years, I further lost touch with my Chinese culture as I gradually dived into my new life in a new country. Maybe it’s time for me, like her, to reclaim Lunar New Year.