1 . Festivals are celebrated all around the world. They have a wide range of origins, such as the seasons of the year, religions, famous figures, and important events. Every festival has its different customs and unique charms. However, no matter how different they may seem, all over the world, the spirit of sharing joy, gratitude, love, or peace is common in all festivals.

Of all the traditional festivals, the harvest festival can be found in almost every culture. This important agricultural festival takes place after all the crops have been gathered in. People celebrate to show that they are grateful for the year’s supply of food. In ancient Egypt, the harvest festival was celebrated during the springtime — the Egyptian harvest season. It featured a parade and a great feast with music, dancing, and sports. Today, in some European countries, people decorate churches and town halls with flowers and fruit, and get together to celebrate over a meal. During the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, families gather to admire the shining moon and enjoy delicious moon cakes.

Customs play a significant role in festivals, but sometimes they can change over time. With the development of modern society and the spread of new ideas, some traditions may fade away and others may be established. One example is the typical Chinese Spring Festival custom of lighting firecrackers to drive away the evil spirits and celebrate the new year. Nowadays, many big cities have given up this custom in order to avoid air pollution. Another example is Halloween, which slowly became an exciting festival for children, in spite of its religious origins.

Festivals are becoming more and more commercial, with businesses taking advantage of the celebrations. Online shopping websites and social media apps have made it much easier for the public to spend more on gifts for their loved ones. Some believe festivals should not be commercialized, while others believe the increase in spending is good for the economy and public happiness.

Festivals are an important part of society. They reflect people’s wishes, beliefs, faiths, and attitudes towards life. They are occasions that allow us to relax and enjoy life, and forget about our work for a little while. They help us understand where we came from, who we are, and what to appreciate. And if you study festivals carefully, you may be surprised to find that different cultures actually have a lot in common after all.

6 . As a child growing up in a suburban town in the Northeast of the United States, the arrival of spring had little meaning for me. Sure, we had a weeklong spring vocation from school, but the key word there was vacation, not spring.

For the kids in my neighborhood, the arrival of spring was a non-event. There were two important seasons: winter, when we could go skating and sledding or build snow forts, and summer, when we could finally make proper use of the beach about 100 meter east of my family home. Spring and autumn were just technical details, weeks and weeks of waiting for the good times’ return.

Admittedly, spring later developed its own attractions for me- “In the spring a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of love”, as the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson noted-however, it was not spring itself, but the other stuff bat got my attention.

In short, I never thought much at all about spring.... and then I arrived in China. I had been in Beijing for about three months when my first Spring Festival rolled around, and it could hardly be ignored. Aside from the random bursts of fireworks at any time day or night, what stood out most for me was that the capital seemed to be empty.

It was as though the crowds and streams of cars and trucks commonly seen in the capital had all gone into hiding. My puzzlement cleared up when I returned to work. My colleagues explained that Chinese traditionally travel, if necessary, to visit their families during Spring Festival, and that many Beijingers were not natives of the capital.

I also got my first knowledge of something about Spring Festival that never ceases to amaze me. Regardless of when the holiday is set to begin, there is an almost immediate and sudden change for the better in the weather. Spring really does arrive.

I can’t begin to figure out how the ancient Chinese could create a system that would almost always accurately predict when the season would shift year after year after year. But they did.

Anyone who has an interest in Dunhuang will have heard of Fan Jinshi. The Chinese archaeologist     1     has spent more than half a century researching and preserving the caves at the heart of the ancient Silk Road in Gansu Province     2    (know) as the “Daughter of Dunhuang” in her field, though “protector” is probably a more fitting     3    (describe).

Fan has been studying the historical site since the early 1960s, first as an archaeology undergraduate from Peking University, then as a conservationist when she became the deputy director of the Dunhuang Research Academy in 1984, which serves to prevent the ancient site     4     being destroyed.

“It is over a thousand years old. It is an old person, an     5    (extreme) weak old person. It has     6    (variety) illnesses. If you are a little careless, it could be gone. Gone forever,” Fan says.

Today, thanks to the work of great     7    (archaeologist) such as Fan, Dunhuang is proud of the world’s largest and best-preserved collection of Buddhist relics     8    (date) from the 13th to the 15th centuries. The main Mogao site is made up of 735 caves spread across     9    1,700-metre-wide cliff face, containing 45,000 square metres of murals(壁画)     10     more than 2,000 colourful sculptures.

Yours,

Li Hua

Jingxi Taiping Drum is a traditional form of dancing. With its display of profound cultural elements, it     1     (include) in the first batch (批次) of China’s national intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产) items in 2006.

The     2     (early) historical references of this art date back to the Spring and Autumn Period. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, it started to gain     3     (popular) in and around the capital, and then it was introduced to Mentougou District of Beijing.

In ancient times, the drums were played     4     New Year’s Eve at the imperial palace to bring peace. As a result, the performance also became known as the “New Year Drum” by Beijingers. This type of drum dance is     5     (common) seen performed during the last and first month of the lunar year in many local festive activities, thus expressing     6     (people) hope of a peaceful and prosperous year     7     (come) .

During a given performance, drummers perform various dance moves while     8     (hold) the drum in their left hands and a mallet in their right hands. Traditional Chinese aesthetic (美学的) concepts are reflected in the drum playing, all of     9     represent distinctive local features.

In the past decades, efforts have been made by Mentougou District to preserve this signature folk dance culture. Today, the time-honored folk art of the Jingxi Taiping Drum is being taken up by the young people     10     is presenting its lively artistic charm on a global stage.