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    The kindly “Chinese Fortune Grandpa” wearing Han Chinese clothing and holding a fortune bag debuted(亮相) at the Imperial Ancestral Shrine in Beijing on the day after Christmas. The final image of the Chinese gift-giver was selected through a global design competition that cost millions of yuan. Its debut seems to be a sign of competition against “Santa Claus”, according to a report by Guangming Daily.

    Many Chinese cities have been filled with Christmas neon lights, Christmas songs, Christmas trees, and the images of “Santa Claus” in recent days. As a matter of fact, foreign festivals are becoming more popular than certain traditional Chinese festivals among the Chinese people, particularly the youth. “Certain traditional festivals have died out because people have forgotten their spiritual meanings,” said noted writer Feng Jicai. More and more Chinese people are beginning to exchange gifts on Valentine's Day and Christmas. However, many of them know nothing about Chinese New Year pictures or sugarcoated figurines(小糖人), and have never heard suona music. Certain folk customs on the Dragon Boat Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, and other traditional festivals have gradually disappeared. Under such circumstances, even the “Chinese Fortune Grandpa” is unlikely to defeat “Santa Claus”.

    However, it is not a bad thing to some extent. It constantly reminds people to restore the “true face” of traditional festivals. China has listed traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival as legal holidays, which brings more paid leaves to the public, and helps to awaken the public awareness of traditional festivals.

    In modern society, festival is a carrier of culture and its meaning largely depends on their understandings and usages by people. Compared with foreign festivals, traditional Chinese festivals are not inferior(次于) in cultural meanings, but lack of fashion sought by modern people. If people do not appreciate the historical culture contained by traditional festivals, and only take pleasure-seeking as the most important, the significance of traditional festivals will fade away and the inheritance(继承) of fine traditional culture will be cut off.

    Here is some must-know information from a handbook on how people behave in doing business in some countries.

In Brazil

    Brazilians are warm and friendly. They often stand close when talking and it is common for them to touch the person on the shoulder. People often greet each other (particularly women) with light cheek kisses. Schedules tend to be flexible, with business meetings sometimes starting later than planned. But to be safe, be on time. Meals can stretch for hours—there's no such thing as rushing a meal in Brazil. Lunches also can start in the mid to late afternoon. Brazilians are social, preferring face-to-face communication over mails or phone calls.

    In Singapore

    Singaporeans shake hands when they meet and often also greet each other with a small, polite bow. Business cards should be offered and received with two hands. Arriving late is considered disrespectful. So be on time. Efficiency(效率) is the goal, so meetings and dealings often are fast-paced. Singaporeans are direct in their discussions, even when the subject is about money. Rank is important and authority is respected. This determines both people interact in meetings. For example, people avoid disagreeing outright with someone with a higher rank.

    In the United Arab Emirates

    In the UAE, status is important, so the most senior or oldest should be greeted first with their titles. The handshake seems to be longer than elsewhere. So, do not pull away the handshake. Women should cover themselves when it comes to dress. Men also tend to be covered from neck to elbows(肘部) and down to the knees. People do not avoid entertaining in their homes, but they also hold business meals at restaurants. Touching or passing food or eating with your left hand is to be avoided. When meetings are one-to-one, if your host offers you coffee, you should refuse. It might seem odd, but it is a cultural tradition. Coffee should only be accepted if it is always set out or presented.

    In Switzerland

    The Swiss tend to be formal and address each other by last name. They also are respectful of private lives. You should be careful not to ask about personal topics. Punctuality (守时) is vital, something that comes from a deep respect for others' time. Arrive at any meeting or event a few minutes early to be safe. They also have clear structure in their companies. Higher-ups make the final decisions, even if others might disagree. Neat, clean dress is expected. The Swiss follow formal table manners. They also keep their hands visible at the table and their elbows off the table. It is polite to finish the food on your plate.

    It was warm for a Sunday afternoon in early January. Kevin loved being outdoors among the wild rosebushes in front of his house with a view of distant mountains.

    It had been a good day for his wife, Sharon, too. They spent the morning in front of the house, talking and drinking tea. Sharon felt strong and tried her best to cook, starting a pot of homemade soup — a task that would have been nothing a few years ago, but is a little hard for her now. Her illness had left her weak, often puzzled.

    Sharon was the take-charge person in the family. She was seldom sick until 1997, when she began suffering from terrible headaches. One day at work, colleagues said she didn't look right and urged(敦促) her to go to the hospital. She rose from her chair and fell over. She could hear voices, but couldn't speak. It looked as if she'd had a stroke(中风).

    Other stroke-like symptoms (症状) followed. She had difficulty walking. She ran a fever all the time. The headaches never stopped. She and Kevin spent all their savings seeing doctors and on medical tests.

    In 2000, physicians said Sharon had brain damage that left her with symptoms resembling dementia (痴呆症). Once, she visited a familiar store and couldn't remember where the exit was. Another time, she was making spaghetti, but didn't know what to do after the water boiled.

    After seeing specialists, Kevin and Sharon came to believe that exposure(接触) to mould(霉菌) had caused Sharon's condition. Her world was certainly getting worse. At times she needed a wheelchair. The woman who never liked asking for help had to stay at home and rely on her husband.

    Louis Pasteur was born in Dole, France on December 27, 1822. His family was poor, and during his early education Pasteur was an ordinary student who enjoyed art and singing. However, when Pasteur was exposed to science as a teenager, he knew he had found his career.

    In 1838, Pasteur went to college to become a science teacher. He then became a chemistry professor at the University of Strasbourg. He got married in 1849 and had five children. However, three died young from typhoid fever (伤寒症). It was the deaths of his children that drove Pasteur to investigate the infectious disease in order to find a cure.

    During Pasteur's time, people believed that bacteria (细菌) appeared due to “spontaneous generation (自然发生)”. They thought that the bacteria just appeared out of nowhere. Pasteur earned out experiments to see if this was true. Through his experiments he proved that germs (细菌) were living things that came from other living things. They didn't just spontaneously appear. This was a major discovery in the study of biology and earned Pasteur the title of Father of Germ Theory.

    As Pasteur learned more about bacteria, he began to think they may be the cause of diseases in humans. When the French silk market was threatened by a disease to silkworms (蚕), Pasteur decided to investigate. He discovered that this disease was caused by germs. By killing them from the silkworm farms, he was able to cease the disease and save the French silk business.

    Today Louis Pasteur is known as one of the most important scientists in history. His discoveries led to an understanding of bacteria and diseases that has helped save millions of lives.

    Forcing waiters and waitresses to survive on tips from customers rather than normal wages is a pointless, crude, and unique American custom that, in the past several years, a handful of progressive restaurant owners have attempted to do away with. Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, is about to join their ranks and has announced that he plans to gradually stop tipping at the company's 13 restaurants.

    What, exactly, is wrong with tipping? As Brian Palmer has explained, more or less it's everything. To start, leaving a waiter's pay in the hands of customers has a feeling of classism (阶级歧视). And in theory, handing restaurant customers the power to tip is at least supposed to motivate better service. This fails in practice because humans turn out to be pretty arbitrary (随意的) about their tipping behavior. Research has shown that the amount diners tip has very little to do with their level of satisfaction. All of this doesn't encourage waiters and waitresses to do anything but turn over as many tables as possible.

    Tipping is also very unfair to kitchen staff. The law allows restaurants to divide tips between front-of-the-house workers like waiters, hosts, hostesses, and bartenders (调酒师), but not cooks. This creates a system in which the people serving the food in a restaurant can earn more than the people preparing it.

    One of the most fascinating parts of Meyer's move is that, unlike some restaurant owners who have taken an anti-tipping stand, he won't simply add a standard extra charge to diners' bills. Rather, Union Square Hospitality Group means to raise menu prices enough to fully cover the cost of a meal. If Meyer manages to move away from tipping at all without hurting his profits, it would almost certainly set the stage for others to follow suit.

    He was a founder of modem Chinese literature. He was regarded as "an old man always telling the truth". Living across two centuries, he experienced many periods of danger and suffering but never lost his beliefs. His name was Ba Jin.

    As the 101-year-old legendary（传奇的）writer passed away in Shanghai after a six-year battle with disease, millions of Chinese were deeply sad. People in Shanghai and Chengdu gathered around his old house and literature museum to mourn for the great man.

    "My school held a series of ceremonies to express our deep sorrow,'' said Zuo Shang, a 17-year-old girl in Shanghai, who appreciates much of Ba's works. "He is a great writer who wrote so many masterpieces, but what I admire about him the most is his courage to tell the truth, 'Telling the truth, being an honest man.' That's what I learned from him," explained Zuo.

    Ba Jin was born in 1904 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. A son of a wealthy family, Ba helped the poor ever since he was a child. It is they who taught him a strong yet down-to earth way of living.

    Ba finished his first novel, "Destruction", in 1929 during his travels to France. His later masterpieces, "Family" "Spring" and "Autumn", mirrored the struggles, tragedies and loves of the young in a feudal society. The books encouraged Chinese people not to give in to fate and to be their own masters.

    "Ba Jin told the true story of his country and his people. His great love and service to them meant he was thinking about what he could do for them," said Bing Xin, a well-known writer and also his good friend.

    Like other famous writers in China, Ba suffered in the "cultural revolution" during 1966—1976. But several years later, Ba examined his hard experience in strict introspection（自我反省）instead of hatred. His book, "Random Thoughts"， in 1979 displayed his real thoughts with painful sincerity and won him his reputation for honesty.

    "It really hurts to recall my past mistakes, but 1 have to," said the respectable man. "Always tell the truth. Say what you think in the bottom of your heart. That's my life motto."