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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.

    Global English Center

    General English in all four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

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    Modern Language School

    Special courses in English for business, travel, banking, hotel management and office skills.

    Small classes (2~16 students) on Saturday and Sunday from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m..

    English teachers from Canada and the USA.

    3-month (1,000 yuan), 6-month (1,800 yuan).

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    The 21st Century English Training Center

    We offer morning or afternoon classes. Both of which last three months and a half at a cost of 800 yuan. Entrance exams: June 1 and December 1.

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    The International House of English

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    Saber Miresmailli was on vacation in London when, caught in a bit of traffic on London Bridge, he decided to take a photo of Tower Bridge.

    “I noticed the couple,” he said. “At that moment, I did not see anyone from the wedding party or a photographer with the couple, so I took several pictures. Usually, my pictures are not very good given the fact that I don't use flash and I don't stop to compose (构图)-so when we get back after two weeks, I was very surprised to find this one turned out so well.”

    Miresmailli said, “I thought to myself, if it was me getting married, I would have wanted the picture.” So he posted the photo on Facebook and attached a few friends with the hope of finding the couple and passing them the picture. What happened next, he said, “was crazy”. “I received more than 2,000 requests from perfect strangers and lots of positive and negative emails.” Until this afternoon, almost 230,000 people had shared his Facebook post on the photo.

There's also been an uncertain identification of the couple. It's likely that their names are Laura and James. “If it's the right couple,” Miresmailli said, “they are on their honeymoon in Bali and have no idea about the photo. I believe they will be shocked to find out about their fame.”

    Miresmailli said he's been drowned by the interest in the photo. “I just want to give them their picture and go back to work and tend my tomatoes,” he said.

    Top Music Festivals

    Festival season is just kicking off, and there is a lot to look forward to in the upcoming months.

    Pitchfork Music Festival

    Anyone who likes indie (独立的 )music and up-and-coming artists will have an amazing time at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago's Union Park. This is an indie rock heaven that explores more underground and lesser known bands than the other big Chicago summer festival, Lollapalooza,

    Date: July 14-16

    Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Music Type: Indie rock

    Price: S126-S2, 700

    Essence Music Festival

    No matter what time of the year it is, New Orleans is an amazing place if you love live music. The Essence Music Festival is a celebration of well-known artists like Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, and Mary J. Blige.

    Date：June 29-july 2

    Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

    Music Type: R&B, Soul, rock

    Price: S75-5365

    Sziget Festival

    Budapest knows how to run a party, and Sziget is one of the biggest celebrations of music and culture in all of Europe. You can expect to find favorite artists like Bad Religion and Mac DeMarco playing here during this three day festival.

    Date: August 9-11

    Location: Budapest, Hungary

    Music Type： Eclectic, Indie rock

    Price: 65-275(around ＄70-＄296)

    Flow Festival

    The Flow Festival is a great excuse to explore the city of Helsinki. Artists including Lana Del Rey and The XX will be playing, among many others. Come to this festival to enjoy your selves with an earth-friendly belief.

    Date: August11-13, 2017

    Location Helsinki, Finland

    Music Type: Rock, soul, Jazz

    Price, 99-185(around ＄106-＄199)

    Do you believe in the power of music? If you're like most kids these days, you probably have an electronic device loaded with hundreds or even thousands of your favorite songs. At any moment in time, you can fill your headphones with the sounds of a particular song that suits your mood at that exact time.

    Are you getting ready for a big soccer match or do you need to get excited? Maybe some hip hop with a strong beat will do the trick! Besides, you might be ready to study for a big exam the next day. To calm your nerves and help you concentrate, a little bit of Mozart might make memorization more manageable.

    But is there any scientific evidence of these effects that music seems to have? You bet there is! Scientists have long recognized the power of music. Over the years, many studies have been conducted to examine in greater depth the nature and extent of the effects music has on people.

    For example, scientists at the University of Missouri have found that listening to music can have a positive effect on your mood. Their research gives scientific credibility(可信性) to the behavior that many people have already experienced on their own: listening to upbeat music can brighten your day and boost your mood.

    Other studies have shown that upbeat music isn't the only type of music that can be helpful, however. When people are sad or have suffered a personal loss, sad music can be helpful because people identify with the tone and lyrias(歌词) of the music. Likewise, people under a lot of stress or experiencing upsetting situations can benefit from listening to angry music. Although angry music might not help you if you're in a normal mood, its tone can benefit you when you are dealing with stressful and upsetting situations.

When David Carter started to study art at The University of Texas (UT) at Austin in 1971, he had big dreams of becoming an artist or a writer. But his study came to a stop at 23 after he hurt his hand in an unpleasant event. He developed schizophrenia(精神分裂症) later and spent many years without a home.

Carter liked to spend time around UT, because he dreamt of being able to continue his study in the university and becoming a writer. After running into Carter many times, UT student Ryan Chandler decided to interview him for a project for the Daily Texan, the student newspaper of UT.

"I interviewed him on Austin's homeless problems. After I heard his story, we kept in touch and really became friends. I learned he wanted to get back to UT, so I decided to help him," said Chandler. "He had got 87 hours, very close to a degree. Now, with changing degree requirements, he only has 64 hours to go."

With the help of Chandler, who worked with the university office, Carter was assigned an adviser by UT's College of Fine Arts. "It' s the greatest gift I've ever received," Carter said. "He did what had to be done to get me back to school, and I couldn't have done it without him"

After seeing a magazine article about Carter, a UT schoolmate decided to pay his tuition fees (学费)without telling Chandler his name.

Doug Dempster, dean of the College of Fine Arts, said in a statement, "David Carter's decision to complete his degree is a testament (证明) to finishing well what was started, and stopped, even many years earlier. We welcome him back as we do many students each year whose education could not be completed easily. We're going to help him through his remaining course work."