Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival is a Chinese traditional holiday which occurs on the 15th day of the first month of Chinese New Year. This holiday marks the end of the New Year. People will finish their New Year vocation and refresh to work and study. People will do many activities to celebrate the Lantern Festival. The typical activity is "Lantern Riddles". Different colors and shapes of lanterns are hanged everywhere. Riddles are written on pieces of paper and posted on laterns. Any one who slove the riddle is awarded a prize. Most cities will have the Chinese Dragon Dance performances. The must eat food on Lantern Festival is Yuanxiao. Yuanxiao is a kind of sweet dumpling, which is made with sticky rice filled with sweet stuffing. In Chinese the festival is named after this food. It is very easy to cook Yuanxiao. You just need to dump them into a pot of boiling water for a few minutes and then you can enjoy it as desert.

A Big Week

This week is a big week to me because we have Chinese New Year in this week. This is my first Chinese New Year in Calgary. On Febrary 6th, I celebreted the Chinese New Year with some of my Chinese classmates in EAP.

At first, I was very sad on that day morning. I felt so bad because I can not together with my family on the big traditional holiday. I was on my way to UC when my family was eating dinners, chatting and laughting, watching the Spring Festival Party Show on CCTV. The weather outside was so cold as the same as the feeling I was inside. Whenever I imagine the warm scence, tears wet my eyes without consious.

However, there are so many nice people here. My friends invited me join their party to celebrate the New Year. At 6:00pm, Adam, Jethro, Amey and I went to downtown after we finished our class. We ate dinner in a Chinese resteraunt. That were the most delicious foods I have ever eaten. We talked for a long time after dinner. They inspired me to be stronger and positiver. I felt much better when I together with them. They are so kind. I like to spend time with them. Now, I know I am not alone in Calgary, I won't be lonely anymore because I have so many good friends. Thank you guys! I had a wonderful Chinese New Year night.

Beijing

As the capital of China, Beijing is filled with history and traditional culture of China. The list of attractions in Beijing can not be end.
The most famous interesting places are The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, and the Temple of Heaven. The Great Wall, built of stone and brick, was used as a defense barrier against invaders. It is so magnificent that can be seen from the photos which took by sattllites in the space. The Forbidden City was the home of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, a period extending over 500 years. It is the world's largest palace. Tiananmen Square is the heart of urban Beijing and large enough to accommodate an assembly of one million people. The Temple of Heaven is the place where Chinese emperors used to pray the good harvest.
In addition to visiting historic sites, Beijing has many great public parks including Chaoyang Park, Ritan Park and Beihai Park. Beijing is not only a historical city but also a develop business city in China. There are numorous huge construction sites, glitzy shopping malls and high rise buildings. Wang Fu Jing Street is one of the most famous shopping streets. A foods street locat right in Wang Fu Jing Street. Foods street provides various foods from different provinces of China.
Beijing has a lot of universities. Tsinghua University is top1 in China. Peking University is top2 in China. Both of them have high reputations known to the world. Students from different countries come to study in these universities.
It is known that the 2008 Olympic Games will be held in Beijing. Every Chinese is pround of that. Two typical buildings will be built in Olympic Green. First one is National Stadium which looks like a bird nest. The other one is National Aquatics Center which looks like a large cube of water. They are so fantastic!
China is the host to such a wide variety of beautiful places, and a visitor really should spend much more time exploring them all.

Hangzhou

Hangzhou, a city famous for its natural, historical and cultural features, attacts more than 20 million tourists from home and abroad every year.
The West Lake is the most famous attraction of Hangzhou. The lake and its environs just like a large traditional Chinese garden. The typical element is stone bridge. There are many stone bridges above the lake. Every bridge has a beautiful folk tale. One of the folk tales is a romantic love story about a kind man and his nice wife who is transfered from a white snake. When I was young, I have dreamed to be the white snake wife because she is so beautiful and kind. For those who interest in art and sculpture, Fei Lai Peak and Ling Yin Temple are must see attractions. The near by Mausoleum of General Yue Fei is a monument to the patriot hero who was murdered in 1141.
Almost every visitor to Hangzhou can learn something of this city's famous products, namely silk and Longjing Tea( one of four most famous kinds of Chinese Tea). Visitors can learn these history and culture from musumes such as The National Silk Museum and The National Tea Museum. Besides, visitors are welcome to the Longjing Tea village. The village homestays will invite visitors to drink Chinese Tea and talk about the history and production of it. Visitors can buy some high quality tea from them in a low price.
Another attraction in Hangzhou is the Qiantang River. Annually, millions of people come to watch the magnificent tide on the eighteenth day of the eighth lunar month. When the surging tide comes, the water can rise up to a height of 30 feet and the noise is very loudly.
Hangzhou, with its surrounding hills, water and numerous beautiful sightseeing places, has been ranked as one of the ten best famous tourist cities in China.

Life has been changed

Life in China has been changed a lot in 100 years, especially in family life. Chinese People Public Country was found in 1949. Until 1949, most people had lived in a feodal and poor life. Women's status had been very low before then. Women were not allowed to study or work. Marriage was desided by parents. Some marriage was desided before the couples had been born. Some couples never met each other before their wedding ceremony. One man could have more than two wives. Wives had to obey their husband after they had been married. In a family, men and women could not eat together. Women had to wait until men had finished their meals. Women would be guilty if they could not give birth to a son. There was no limitied to baby born. The families used to give up their daughters until they have a son.