Last Friday, for our weekly event, we watched Peking Opera at the Qingdao Grand Theatre. As a young man from the United States, it was my first time to watch live Peking Opera, and it was special.

    Peking Opera, also known as Beijing Opera, is called “京剧 (Jingju)” in Chinese. It is a traditional Chinese opera and has a history of over 200 years. It is an art form that combines music, vocal performance, dance and acrobatics(杂技). The works of Peking Opera are mainly based on Chinese history and traditional stories and customs.

The performance we watched that night was called Meeting the Queen and Hitting the Dragon Robe (长袍) The story is from a Chinese classic literature. Bao Zheng was one of the most well-known ancient Chinese government officials in Chinese history. One day, he met an old lady on his way back home. The old lady claimed herself as the mother of the emperor and had been set up by others. After checking that the old lady was the emperor's mother, Bao Zheng helped her to get back to the capital and she blamed the emperor for all the misery she had suffered. She ordered Bao Zheng to punish the emperor and Bao Zheng hit the dragon robe instead of hitting the emperor in order to save himself from being punished.

When the opera started, we were amazed by the unique sound made by the musical instruments. They were in perfect cooperation with the singing of the performers. Also, the costumes the performers wore were extremely beautiful and attractive as they have several colours and patterns on each one of them. The performers also "told" the story by their movement. For example, a walk around the stage would mean they took a long trip somewhere. Even though it was kind of hard for us to get used to the music and to follow the story, we were glad that we decided to join the event! We look forward to such an event again. It really helps us know more about Chinese culture.

    What do you think of black cats? Are they unluckier than cats of other colors? Many people in Western countries think so. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), did a study on cat colours and people's understandings of cat personalities.

    The study found that people do judge(判断) cat personalities by color. Scientists did a survey(调查) on the Internet. There were 49 statements (描述) matching five cat colorings with 10 personalities. People think orange and bi-colored (双色的) cats are friendly, tri-colored (三色的) cats are not generous, and white cats are calm, lazy and shy. As for black cats, people think they don't have special personalities.

    But why do so many people dislike keeping black cats as pets? People think black cats have less special personalities, which might be because of their bad reputation (口碑). They think black cats may bring bad luck, especially at Halloween. Movies and television shows also make people believe that.

    Although people have these ideas, UC Berkeley scientists give another reason: people don't think black cats are pretty enough. After all, nothing can show black cats are unluckier than other cats. “You can't judge a cat by its color, because it's the personality of the cat, not the color, that will let you know if the cat is right for you,” Cathy Marden, a scientist said.

    The 35th Weifang International Kite Festival opened in April 2018 in East China's Shandong, receiving kite fans from all over the world. Shandong has a long history of kite making. Over 2,000 years ago, a man named Gongshu Ban from Shangdong invented a kite. It was made of bamboo. In the following centuries, kite making developed well in China.

    The first Weifang International Kite Festival was celebrated in 1984. In 1983, chairman of the Seattle Kite Association David Checkley took part in a kite show in Shanghai and later he visited several kite manufacturers (制造商). He found that kites made in Weifang were the best. He suggested that an international event take place there. So Weifang began to hold it in April every year.

    At the fifth festival, Weifang became known as the "kite capital of the world". Today, Weifang is home to over 300 kite factories. Their products are sold to over 40 countries and areas, making up 85% of the domestic (国内的) market and 65% of the world market.

    However, there are also some problems. "Only a few people would like to learn traditional kite making," says Yang Hongwei. In her opinion, only something traditional can last. As for this problem, an older craftsman (手艺人) Zhang Xiaodong said, "Only through innovation can we achieve a bright future for traditional hand-made kites." Zhang has created a rocket-shaped kite after China launched the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft. "I have a controller and the two parts of the 'rocket' can separate in the sky," he said proudly. He is planning to use drones (无人机) in kite making next.