Dr. James Naismith created the game of basketball in 1891 when he was the physical education teacher at Springfield College. Naismith yearned for a new sport that his students could play indoors because New England winters were bitterly cold. Therefore, he created basketball and it only took fourteen days. The original basketball teams started in 1801 where they had nine players instead of five. Also, the baskets were made from peach baskets. After each score a player had to climb up then retrieve the ball. Since this was complicated, iron hoops were introduced in 1893. Naismith probably would have never guessed his sport would become so popular, but now thousands of teams across the world play his…
As I had mentioned, Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the chinese Lunisolar Calendar. Ancient Chinese New Year is a reflection on how the people behaved and what they believed in the most. In the celebration of the Chinese New Year, people will pour out their moneyh to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing. It is also the tradition that every family cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck, they usually clean their house on the days before the New Year celebration. There is a Cantonese saying “wash away the dirt on ninyabaat”. Ninyabaat means the 28th of month 12. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that newly arrived good luck cannot be swept away. Some people even give their homes, doors and window-frames a new coat of red paint. Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of “happiness” and “wealth”. On the Eve of Chinese New Year, Chinese families gather together to have their annual reunion dinner. Food plays a major role in Chinese New Year celebrations. Families hand out oranges and grapefruits. This kind of grapefruit signifies wealthy, because the Chinese word for grapefruits sounds like the word for “to Have”. Also the Cantonese word for lettuce sounds like rising fortune, so it is very common to serve a lettuce wrap filled with other lucky food. There are many other foods are served in the dinner, such as noodle. Noodles…
Ancient Greek music was extremely popular in those times, and frequently used at ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. It was also played a lot because the Greeks saw playing it as a way of worshipping the Gods, pipes and pans were played when worshipping Dionysus, the god of wine and partying and other instruments played for other gods.…
In United States there are some holidays that are celebrated together with family, like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Independence Day. In China, we also have family reunion days and the Moon Festival is one of them. The Moon Festival is also known as Mid-Autumn Festival or the Zhongqiu Festival. Of course, this festival has equivalents in other countries, such as Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and South Korea. If you are not familiar with the Chinese Moon Festival then here are some suggestions to get you started that will help you to enjoy it. Knowing more of history and knowledge of making lanterns and moon cakes will increases your enjoyment of Moon Festival.…
The Dragon Boat Festival is also a holiday I like a lot. People usually have a three days’ holiday during this Chinese traditional festival therefore it gives me a chance to go home and enjoy the time staying with my parents. Secondly, I like the tasty food during this holiday. It is called Zongzi. It is a kind of food made of rice and with some palm leaves covered on it. What is more, this holiday has unique atmosphere. On that day, people…
Chinese Festivals and Dragon Lore:- Provides information about Chinese New Year; Chinese Lantern Festivals; Animals of the Zodiac and Dragon Lore.…
Cheung Chau's Bun Festival, which draws tens of thousands of local and overseas tourists every year, is staged to mark the Eighth day of the Fourth Moon, in the Chinese calendar (this is usually in early May).…
Today, Qingming Festival has changed a lot. The sad atmosphere decrease and there are more laugh and fun. After sweeping the tombs, little kids will fly kite on the grass and adults like gather together to have a nice talk. This day is also a family day. People will have a feast with the whole family on this day and even find out some strange faces. In some…
China is famous for foods, especially which must be prepared for traditional festivals. These foods are made with traditional recipes and related to their meaning, ancient legend or historical story, which are passed along generation to generation. Among these traditional foods, “Nian-gao”, ”Yuebing”, and “Zongzi” are representative.…
My favorite season is winter. And snow indicates the coming of winter. I always wonder how magic and delicate the shape of snow is. It seems like being carved by artist. No doubt, snow is the most wonderful creation of the nature. I have had special feeling toward snow since I was a little girl. I like watching snow falling down from the sky especially at nights with the light of moon that it is great. Some people dislike winter because they think that there is no fun in winter, everything is covered by snow and the weather is cold. But to me, there are a lot of beautiful memories about winter. When I was young, I used to hung out with neighborhood kidds after school even the weather was severe. Actuaally we were looking for the heavy snow at the very beginning of winter. Because we were fond of having snowball fight and making snowman as well as going sledding. We were so happy when playing in the snow. We didn’t care how cold our hand were, how dirty our cloths were. The only things we cared about were who could win in the fight, who could make the best snowman and who could sled the fastest. However, we had to stand the complaint from parents. Another reason for me to like winter is Spring Festival. It is the most important festival in China. On those days, everyone would go back home to be with family and celebrate. It is also the most traditional holliday to Chinese, so everyone would take a break on these days no matter how busy he/she is. To me, the happiest things is that I can eat hot pot with my family. In my family, eatting hot pot on New Year’s even is the custom so on this day every member of my family would sit around the table to share the hot pot together as well as chatting. It’s really an enjoyable thing to eat hot pot in cold winter especially with the family. I keep those memories as my fortune and I wish everybody could like winter as I…
On the 15th day of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, individuals of Chinese descent throughout the globe will be celebrating the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Mooncake Festival. It is the third major celebration on the Chinese lunisolar calendar which incorporates elements of both a lunar calendar and solar calendar, which is not uncommon among Asian cultures. This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival took place on the 29th of September. As it has always been in Malaysia, the festival was celebrated with merriment and involved the incorporation of lanterns, mooncakes, and the involvement of people from other cultural backgrounds as well. In conjunction with this year’s celebration, this article will explore the history, origins and customs associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival.…
Chinese Fan Dance the Chinese fan dance is performed in celebration of Chinese culture. It represents beauty, grace and delicacy, according to the Chinese Educational Development Project. It also expresses feelings of joy. The dance is composed of consistently changing rhythms paired with consistency changing body positions. Father fans and silk both are part of the traditional Chinese dance that has its roots in the Han Dynasty, circa 206 BC.…
The first day of the first month by the Chinese Lunar Calendar is Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year; it is the most important traditional holiday in China. Spring Festival dates back to four thousand years ago, originated in the Shang Dynasty. The year of 2011 was the Year of the Rabbit; due to my parents went to Bengal for missionary work, my uncle who lives in the countryside invited me to his house for Spring Festival this year. I didn’t like the idea at first because the countryside is known for its unsatisfying sanitary condition and the lack of air-conditioning. Contrary to my expectations, this Spring Festival was the most fun and memorable holiday I’ve ever experienced.…
Nature has its own arrangement for all living things. All we need to do is to follow nature’s trail. If nature is altered or tampered with, we have to face serious consequences. Great philosophers have researched that other educational systems do not abide by the laws of natural growth, which result in indolent, exhausted and fed up children. We should neither be stern nor be compassionate in handling children. We just need to practice a new approach towards child education, which paves way for “Natural growth or development“. This can be seen in plants, animals as well as humans.…
My favourite festival is Diwali. It usually falls on the eve of winter. This is a festival of lights and sound. New clothes are bought for every member of the family and on the day of the festival the family prays together. Laxmi Pooja is performed.…