Festivals Conctinued

What is your favourite holiday of the year? What festivals or celebrations do you enjoy in your city or town? Do you like spending festivals with your family or with friends? What part of a festival do you like best ---the music, the things to see,the visits or the food?

Festivals Time What … celebrate?What … do? Spring Festival Jan./ Feb. The end of winter,arrival Of spring,lunar New Year With family and relatives Red money to children, See dragon dances, Eat fish,visit families Mid-Autumn Festivals Autumn/ fall The beauty of the full moon,harvest,time with families and friends Give/eat mooncakes Watch the full moon With family and friends National DayOct.1 The Founding of the People ’ s Republic of China Off work,travel to Visit family,to other Parts of China,shop- Dragon Boat Festival/Duan Wu Festival The fifth Day of May The memory of beloved Poet Qu Yuan who died in 278 BC Eat Zhongzi,watch Dragon boat races; throw rice wrapped In reed leaves into Water in memory Of Qu Yuan,

Fast reading : What festivals are mentioned in each paragraph? P 1. Ancient festivals : celebrate the end of the cold weather, planting in spring and harvest in autumn; celebrate when hunters catch animals.

P 2. Festivals of the Dead Japan -----Obon Mexico------Day of the Dead America------Halloween P 3.Festivals to Honour People Dragon Boat Festival Columbus Day (India)October 2

P 4.Harvest Festivals Harvest and Thanksgiving Festival Mid-Autumn festival P 5. Spring festival Carnival Easter Cheery Blossom Festival

Questions and answers: Ancient Festivals: 1.Why would people celebrate at these three times of the year? They would starve if food was difficult to find. 2. Why do you think Music and fire or light are used in festivals? They thought these festivals would bring a year of many.

1.What kind of things are done to honour the dead? Go to clean the graves and light incense,light lamps and play music,eat food in shape of skulls … offer food,flowers and gifts to the dead 2.Why do you think we offer flowers to the dead? In memory of them. Festivals of the Dead:

3. What do you think about the Mexican practiceof making cakes with skulls and bones? They think the deceased would enjoy them. 4. What do you know about Halloween? It is also a festival of the dead.

Festivals to honour people and events: 1.What festivals or celebrations can you think of that honour famous people or important events?Who to honour? Dragon Boat Festival Columbus Day National Festival in India Qu Yuan Christopher Columbus Mahatma Gandhi

Harvest festivals: Do you know of any harvest festivals in China? Mid-autumn festival.

Spring Festivals Why are spring festivals popular?Talk about all the cultural practices you of in China. The Eve of the New Year is very carefully observed. Supper is a feast, with all members coming together. One of the most popular course is jiaozi, dumplings boiled in water. "Jiaozi" in Chinese literally mean "sleep together and have sons", a long-lost good wish for a family. After dinner, it is time for the whole family to sit up for the night while having fun playing cards or board games or watching TV programs dedicated to the occasion. Every light is supposed to be kept on the whole night. At midnight, the whole sky will be lit up by fireworks and firecrackers make everywhere seem like a war zone. People's excitement reach its zenith.

Very early the next morning, children greet their parents and receive their presents in terms of cash wrapped up in red paper packages from them. Then, the family start out to say greetings from door to door, first their relatives and then their neighbors. It is a great time for reconciliation. Old grudges are very easily cast away during the greetings. The air is permeated with warmth and friendliness. During and several days following the New Year's day, people are visiting each other, with a great deal of exchange of gifs.

The New Year atmosphere is brought to an anti-climax fifteen days away where the Festival of Lanterns sets in. It is an occasion of lantern shows and folk dances everywhere. One typical food is the Tang Yuan, another kind of dumplings made of sweet rice rolled into balls and stuffed with either sweet or spicy fillings.

1 在中国北方，尤其是农村地区，人们穿上古时候的衣服， 走上街头游行，以庆祝新年 2 庆祝 “ 地球日 ” 可以提醒我们关心这个世界，尊重生命和 自然。 3 4 月 1 日要当心，在这一天你的朋友可能会开你的玩笑。 如果你上当受骗，别人会把你叫做 “ 四月傻瓜 ” In northern China,especially in the countryside, people celebrate the New Year by dressing up in ancient costumes and going on parades. The celebration of Earth Day can be a reminder that we need to care about the world around us and respect life and nature. Be careful on April 1 st,because your friends may play a trick on you.If you are taken in,you’ll be called”April Fool!”

4 我们庆祝 “ 世界环境日 ” 的目的是什么？ 5 在 “ 和平日 ” 这一天，不允许有打斗或冲突。 6 许多人仍然相信，人死后会轮回转世。 What’s the purpose of celebrating the “World Environment Day”? On “Peace Day”,no fighting or conflicts are allowed. Many people still believe that when a person dies he will start a new cycle of life.