Compared with other European countries, lifestyle in Italy is slower and more relaxing in its own way. Italians love to chat over a cup of coffee, go out for a walk in the middle of the day, and enjoy long lunches and dinners.

    The family is important to Italians. They can't think of spending a day without talking about their parents and children, or a weekend without a family lunch or dinner. Italians living outside their country miss their family a lot.

    Italians like simple life. Their days start and end with a cup of coffee. A cup of coffee after every meal is a must. Italians love to spend time over a hot cup of coffee and even hotter conversation with friends. Topics are usually about family, football and politics(政治).

    Sport is a very important part in lives of many Italians. Football is their favorite sport. There are hundreds of football clubs with top football teams in Italy. Also, many top players from all over the world play in Italy. Volleyball is also popular and so is rugby, with the top rugby team playing for the European Challenge Cup.

Every Italian province, city, town and street has a historical event that took place there and the Italian calendar is filled with national holidays that they love to celebrate.

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    The most famous food in Korca is kimchi（泡 菜）. It is the food they eat every day. Also, there are about 190 kinds of kimchi. There are different kinds is of kimchi for different seasons of the year. For example, in spring, watery kimchi, which is called mool kimchi, and Chinese cabbage are popular. In summer, young radish(萝卜) kimchi which is called chong kaik kimchi and cucumber(黄瓜)kimchi are common.

    Korea is a small country. There are not enough fields to grow vegetables. In winter, it often snows and it is very cold.  In the old days, people there found pepper was very good for them. They also found salty water could help them keep cabbage longer, so they mixed pepper, salt and cabbage together. They named it kimchi.

    Today, lots of things are added to kimchi, such as fish, letuce, pears, apples and other ingredients. Some scientists say kimchi is very good for health, but others don't agree. What do you think of it?

    Zheng He was an amazing man. He was born in 1371. Ten years later, he was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di became the king of China and he asked Zheng He to join his government.

    The king wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led some sea trips to different parts of the world. He certainly travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships have even reached South America and Australia.

    Each trip lasted more than one year and it is believed he sailed more than 50,000 kilometres during the years of his travels. Zheng He led a fleet with about 28, 000 men and over 250 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers horses.

    On these trips he took many Chinese goods like silk and medicine with him to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats which were filled with expensive things such as gold and treasures, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

    It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He's travels. The Columbus of the East, Zheng He, died in 1433. After that. The new king had these trips stopped and he burned almost all the books about Zheng He's travels, because he believed the trips were unlucky and too expensive. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study the adventures of great Zheng He.