China is the hometown of tea. Before the Tang Dynasty, Chinese tea was exported by land and sea，first to Japan and Korea, then to India and Central Asia,and in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, to the Arabian Peninsula. In the early period of the 17th century, Chinese tea was exported to Europe，where the upper class started to drink tea. Tea spirit permeates Chinese culture, and throughout the country there are many kinds of tea，teahouses, tea legends, tea artifacts and tea customs. The West Lake in Hangzhou is famous for its excellent green tea; and provinces in southwest China like Yunnan where flie ethnic groups were less affected by foreign cultures still keep tea ceremonies and customs in original tea-growing areas.

　　端午節(the Dragon Boat Festival)，又稱重五節，于每年農歷五月初五慶祝。 這是廣泛流傳2000多年的民間節日，也是中國最重要的節日之一。端午節當天舉行各種慶祝活動，吃粽子和賽龍舟(dragon boat racing)是其中的重要習俗。關于端午節的起源，有很多傳說。一部分人認為端午節是為了紀念詩人屈原，另一部分人則認為是為了紀念戰國時期的著名將領伍子胥。然而，屈原的傳說流傳最廣。人們非常欣賞這位愛國詩人的高尚情操和出眾才華，更對他投江自盡的結局深表同情。

　　The Dragon Boat Festival, also called Double FifthFestival, is celebrated on May 5th on lunarcalendar.It is a folk festival widely spread with ahistory of over 2,000 years, and is one of the mostimportant Chinese festivals as well. There are variouscelebrating activities on that day, among which the customs of eating rice dumplings anddragon boat racing are quite important.There are many legends on the origin of the DragonBoat Festival.Some people think it is to commemorate the poet Qu Yuan, while others say it isto be in honour of Wu Zixu, a famous general during the Warring States period. However, thelegend of Qu Yuan spreads most widely. People appreciate highly the noble sentiment andprominent talent of this patriotic poet and are very sympathetic with the ending that hecommitted suicide by drowning himself in a river.

　　冰燈(ice lantern)是中國北方廣泛創作的冬季藝術品。它最初是為了照明，在 寒冷的冬夜為中國北方的農民和漁民的工作生活提供光源。后來，各種形狀和大 小的水晶般透明的冰燈逐漸成為一種民間藝術，冰燈博覽會(fair)成為北方特有 的民俗休閑活動。黑龍江省省會哈爾濱是中國冰雪藝術的發源地。1963年元宵節 期間，哈爾濱市在公園舉辦了首屆冰燈博覽會，幾千盞冰燈和幾十枝冰花展出， 冰燈和冰花由簡單的工具制成，如結冰的盆和籃子。后來，大型年度冰燈博覽會 每年都在哈爾濱舉行。

　　An ice lantern is a wintertime work of art widelycreated in north China. It was originally made forillumination, providing a light source for the life andwork of farmers and fishermen of north China oncold winter night. Later, the crystal-clear ice lanternsof all shapes and sizes gradually became a folk art and an ice lantern fair became a folkrecreational activity unique to the north. Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang Province, is thebirthplace of Chinese ice and snow art. During the Lantern Festival in 1963，the city hosted thevery first ice lantern feir in the park, during which over a thousand ice lanterns and dozens ofice flowers made with simple tools like basins and basket for freezing were on display. Later, alarge-scale annual ice lantern feir was held each year in Harbin.