1.spring festival
The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together,just like Christmas in the West.All people living away from home go back,becoming the busiest time for transportation systems of about half a month from the Spring Festival.Airports,railway stations and long-distance bus stations are crowded with home returnees.
The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month,often one month later than the Gregorian calendar.It originated in the Shang Dynasty (c.1600 BC-c.1100 BC) from the people's sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.
Strictly speaking,the Spring Festival starts every year in the early days of the 12th lunar month and will last till the mid 1st lunar month of the next year.Of them,the most important days are Spring Festival Eve and the first three days.The Chinese government now stipulates people have seven days off for the Chinese Lunar New Year.
The Chinese character "fu" (meaning blessing or happiness) is a must.The character put on paper can be pasted normally or upside down,for in Chinese the "reversed fu" is homophonic with "fu comes",both being pronounced as "fudaole." What's more,two big red lanterns can be raised on both sides of the front door.Red paper-cuttings can be seen on window glass and brightly colored New Year paintings with auspicious meanings may be put on the wall.
People attach great importance to Spring Festival Eve.At that time,all family members eat dinner together.The meal is more luxurious than usual.Dishes such as chicken,fish and bean curd cannot be excluded,for in Chinese,their pronunciations,respectively "ji","yu" and "doufu," mean auspiciousness,abundance and richness.After the dinner,the whole family will sit together,chatting and watching TV.In recent years,the Spring Festival party broadcast on China Central Television Station (CCTV) is essential entertainment for the Chinese both at home and abroad.According to custom,each family will stay up to see the New Year in.
Waking up on New Year,everybody dresses up.First they extend greetings to their parents.Then each child will get money as a New Year gift,wrapped up in red paper.People in northern China will eat jiaozi,or dumplings,for breakfast,as they think "jiaozi" in sound means "bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new".Also,the shape of the dumpling is like gold ingot from ancient China.So people eat them and wish for money and treasure.
Southern Chinese eat niangao (New Year cake made of glutinous rice flour) on this occasion,because as a homophone,niangao means "higher and higher,one year after another." The first five days after the Spring Festival are a good time for relatives,friends,and classmates as well as colleagues to exchange greetings,gifts and chat leisurely.
2.my friend
I have many good friends,Lily is one of the best.We play together since we two were very young.She is such a pretty girl that when people meet her,they always pat her little head and say,"Oh,how lovely!"Lily is also very brave.I remember one evening two weeks ago,mom sent me to buy some salt and sugar downstair.When I was back on the darksome stairway,I suddenly saw a black shadow behind me,was that a ghost?I was so frightened that I cried "God!"At that very moment,Lily come,she rush at the shadow and shouted to it loudly till it disappeared,then we ran home safely...
Maybe you have already get it,yes,Lily is my dog,--my best friend,I love her.
3.my houseing estate
We have just moved into a new flat,like most people here living in their houses in the suburbs.Our house is big though it consists only two floors.
On the first floor there is the dining room,the lounge or sitting room,the kitchen and the hall.In the hall we set a stand for hats,coats and umbrellas.A staircase leads from the hall to the landing on the second floor； On this floor there are four bedrooms,a bathroom and a lavatory.
In front of the house we have a small garden in which we grow flowers：roses,tulips and some fruit trees.Thereis also a vegetable garden where we grow all kinds of vegetables,such as cabbages,cauliflowers,and tomatoes.We all know how to plant vegetables for my father was once a vegetable grower.
At the side of the house is a garage.We haven't got a car up to now,but my moths said：we'd have one at the end of this year.People ,in this high-consumer city are very rich,not like the people live in the inland,cities.