The most difficult thing about celebrating the Spring Festival in     1     big city is finding a restaurant that is open. Almost all the shops close for a week or two, as workers and proprietors (业主) return to their hometowns     2     (celebrate) with their families. Cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen,     3     half or more of the population moves in from elsewhere, are ghost towns.     4     (lucky), I like Lanzhou beef noodles; those shops mostly stay open.

In the countryside, it is completely opposite. Two years ago, a friend, Robin    5    (invite) me to celebrate the Spring Festival at his family’s home in Baichi village     6    the north of central China’s Henan province.The village residents were friendly and somewhat    7     (surprise) to see a foreigner. Much food    8     (eat) and beer was drunk at neighbors’   homes at supper. Without doubt, the drinking experience was unique. Almost everyone who came to Robin’s home brought a bottle of baüju or rice wine with them. Long     9     (table) were put in two rooms of the house, and each was covered with food.    10     your glass was empty, it would be filled quickly; if it was full, you’d better empty it!

The Qingming was the most important festival of the year    1     ancient times and a spring outing was the most important part of the Qingming custom. Therefore, it was the major theme for poetry and paintings.

Of all the ancient    2     (poem) about the Qingming, the one by the Tang poet Du Mu is well-known and has come down to the present day. It goes    3     (rough) like this: The Qingming’s day is a rainy day, and people with a    4     (break) heart are back and forth on the way. May I ask where I can find a wine shop? The shepherd kid, pointing afar,     5     (say) there you can find the best. This is    6     vivid description of the mood you feel on the Qingming Festival.

The Song    7     (art) Zhang Zeduan’s painting “Qingming Scroll”   (《清明上河图》) is a masterpiece of art,     8     describes what happens on both banks of the Bian River on the Qingming Festival. There are a crowd of people from all walks of life, some    9     (take) carriages, others sitting in sedans(轿子), on    10     (they) way to the suburbs (郊区) for spring outings. When you look at the picture you feel like part of it.

There are a variety of activities in celebration of the Double Ninth Festival: climbing, wearing cornel (山茱萸) leaves, appreciating chrysanthemums (菊花), drinking chrysanthemum wine (雄黄酒) and eating Chongyang cakes.

Autumn is the    1    (good) season for climbing high places. When you look down from the height you find     2     (you) free from cares and becoming part of nature. The climbing custom     3    (start) from the Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD). To begin with, they climbed high terraces (梯田) on the outskirts of     4     capital Chang’an and later the hills and mountains around. And then it became a custom    5    the custom spread about.

When people climbed they wore cornel because they believed that cornel could keep away evils. Cornel is an ever green shrub (灌木)     6    a strong fragrance (香味). Its roots, stems and leaves can    7    (process) as a medical herb (草药) that can relieve some symptoms (症状) of a bad disease and keep away mosquitoes (蚊子). The poem “Reminiscing My Brother in Shandong on the Double Ninth Festival”     8     (write) by Wang Wei describes climbing with cornel: “Being a    9    (strange) in a foreign place, I miss my flesh and blood all the more. I know you are climbing with cornel, but your brother is not with you.” Even today when people miss their relatives and friends on festivals, this is the poem they are likely     10    (sing).

The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the st lunar month, usually in February or early March in the solar calendar.    1     (date) back to the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-8 AD), it    2    (become) a grand festival with great significance. Till today, the festival is still held each year around the country.

In the daytime of the festival,     3    (performance) such as dragon dances, lion dances, land boat dances and beating drums while dancing     4     (stage). At night, lanterns of different colors and shapes are it up in the streets, attracting crowds of people. Children will hold self-made or bought lanterns to walk on the streets,     5    (extreme) excited. People also like solving lantern riddles that day. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions    6     the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the owners to check their answers. If they’re right, they will get    7     small gift as a reward. Besides, the festival is a day    8     (appreciate) the full moon and eat yuanxiao.

Some aspects of the festival are fading nowadays,     9     people still see the Lantern Festival as a chance to spend with family and wish for    10    (happy).

I’ve learned of your letter that you want to know about the Double Seventh Festival. Now I’m writing to tell you about it.

The Double Seventh Festival, also know as the Qiqiao Festival, is the most romantic traditional Chinese festival. It falls annual on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. The festival came from a ancient Chinese romantic fairy tale about the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, who has deeply moved generation of Chinese people. Many men and women in the love usually pray for a happy marriage on that night, hoping for a happy ending to his true love. Today, many young couples in China celebrate the Double Seventh Festival in Chinese Valentine’s Day.

I hope my explanation can make you understood our traditional festivals and cultures better.

Yours,

Li Hua

Known as the Zhongqiu Jie (the Mid-Autumn Festival) in China, the Chinese Moon Festival dates back to over 3,000 years. As with all practices so old, a lot of legends    1     (develop) over the years; it becomes difficult to understand the original traditions. Most stories    2    (base)on the idea     3     the goddess Chang’e lives on the moon; however, tales of how she got there differ     4     (wide).

One story suggests that the moon goddess    5    (be) the wife of a legendary archer (射手) who was ordered to shoot down all but one of the suns in the sky. That’s why we only have one sun. After accomplishing the task, he was given an immortality (永生) pill as    6    reward. His wife found and took the pill instead, then later flew to the moon     7    she lives now.

Another Chinese Moon Festival legend states that paper messages inside of mooncakes were used as a way    8     (organize) the exact date of a revolution against the ruling Mongols (蒙古人) during the Yuan Dynasty. The Mongols were overthrown    9     the night of the Moon Festival. Although this legend seems a little     10    (reasonable) than a goddess living on the moon, little historical evidence suggests that this is how the Mongols were defeated.

In your letter, you asked me about traditionally Chinese festivals. Now I would like to tell you something about the most important festival in China- the Spring Festival.

Few days before the festival, houses are cleaned and red couplets are stick. We put on our fancy clothes and setted off firecrackers during the festival. Beside, presents and big dinners are prepared for to celebrate the happy reunion of family and relative. They have dumplings and enjoy the Spring Festival Gala on Lunar New Year’s Eve. Customs may vary from place to place, and the same happy atmosphere is to be found anywhere in the country.

Now, I hope you have some idea of our Spring Festival.

Yours,

Li Hua

The Chinese New Year was a family event for me as a child. When I was little, there were no street performances and there were    1    (certain) no major public celebrations. Neighbors would get together to set off firecrackers     2    were tied to a tree. I was often terrified by the explosion.

Shops would close for business for at least two days; streets were deserted.As the    3    (young)child in the family, my main duty was not    4     (say)stupid things that might have upset visiting relatives. I kept quiet most of the time as there     5    (be) too many taboos(禁忌) round the New Year.     6    example, I should never utter the word   “shu” (输) during the New Year, as    7    sounds like the Chinese character for “losing money”. Adults would blame you if they lose money during card games as you have mentioned the unspeakable word-“shu”,    8     ( bring) them bad luck.

My mother would kill a few chickens two days before the New Year and I was her able     9    ( assist). We raised corn-fed chicken for    10    ( month) for the celebration of the Chinese New Year.