For thousands of years, poetry has been the favorite type of literature for many in China. As China Highlights website noted, “Chinese literature is one of the major (主要的) parts of China's ancient traditions, and Chinese poetry is just like the best prize (瑰宝) in this famous culture's literary treasure house.”

    There were many famous poets from different periods of time in Chinese history, and thousands of their poems are still read and appreciated today.

    To remind people of those classic Chinese poems and to promote cultural heritage (遗产), China Central Television (CCTV) has produced a TV show – Chinese Poetry Competition. The finale of the hit show's second season was shown on Feb 7.

    Wu Yishu, 16, who studies at the High School Afliated to Fudan University in Shanghai, came out on top. In an earlier episode, Wu wowed the audience when performing in a section entitled “Feihualing”. The game's theme (主题) was “yue”, meaning “moon” or “month” in Chinese. She recited lines from the Classic of Poetry (《诗经》 ), the earliest collection of poems in China: “In July, the crickets are in the field; In August, they are in the yard; In September they are at the door; In October, the crickets enter and crawl under our beds.

    “I really admire her knowledge of poems,” said Huang Zijin, 16, a senior 2 student from Ningbo High School in Zhejiang province. “The first time I saw her wearing traditional Han clothing on TV, I was very impressed by her classical looks. She fulfills all my fantasies for classic Chinese women's talents. What's more, she always appears so calm throughout the show, which is very unusual for her age.”

    As the old saying goes: “One who is filled with knowledge always behaves with elegance (优雅).”

    “Learning poems isn't about winning or losing. The power of poetry lies in shaping one's view of life and developing one's inner world,” said Li Bo, an expert guest at the Chinese Poetry Competition's second season.

    When it comes to teaching people about poetry, Li Dingguang, the show's academic advisor, suggested that teachers should explain more about the beauty of the poetry from both the aesthetic (审美的) and emotional sides, and guide the student to lose themselves in the poems' rhythmic (有节奏的) and rhyming (押韵的) lines.

    “Although the proportion (比例) of ancient Chinese poems in the textbooks of primary and secondary schools has increased, many students still learn them for exams,” Li Dingguang told China.org.cn. “Therefore, it's important to help students truly appreciate the artistry and fun of poetry.”

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    Clothing is a language. It tells us about individual people: their personality, age, place in society and so on. If we want to know more about society, we can look at traditional clothing.

    The continent of Africa has a long history and a rich culture, and this is shown in traditional dress. You often find three colors— red, gold and green in the clothing. The first color stands for the blood of millions of people who suffered as slaves(奴隶), the second is for the rich resources of the African earth, and the third represents the grasslands of home.

    The patterns on the clothing also have a meaning. A common pattern is in the form of a cross “×”, which stands for “unity”. Another pattern is a rectangular（矩形） box, which represents “strength”.

    Because clothing has a strong social meaning, people are very careful in choosing what to wear. It would be a serious mistake to wear the wrong clothing, or to wear clothes in the wrong way. For instance, in Ghana, a woman should wear her waistband differently according to the importance of the social event. 

    Traditional dress also tells us about everyday life. African designs are famous for loose(宽松的) clothing. The climate, with the hot sun and wide temperature ranges(变化), requires that the clothes are comfortable for daily life. 

    Although many people wear western clothes, particularly in the big cities in Africa, traditional dress is very highly valued(评价). This is because it has deep cultural meanings.

    Most people have heard of the Great Wall, but not many people outside China know about the Grand Canal. This man-made waterway is known to the Chinese as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand. Canal. It is the longest as well as one of the oldest canals in the world and a place of interest. It's 1,797 kilometres long and some parts of it are more than 2,000 years old. Starting from Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou. The Grand Canal links the Yellow River and the Yangtze River.

    It was built as a way to transport grain from the rich agricultural land in China's south to cities in the north. In fact, it's not one canal, but a system of canals and rivers linked together. It's still an important part of the transport system in China. Thousands of ships use it every day to transport grain and many other types of goods.

    The Chinese government has done new work on the Grand Canal. It has made Darts of it deeper, so bigger ships can use it. The canal also helps to move water. There is a lot of rain in the south of China, but not as much in the north. The canal can carry millions of liters (公升) of water from the south to the north.

    The Grand Canal is much less famous than the Great Wall, and not very many tourists visit it. But it's possible to go on a cruise (乘船游览) along some of the oldest parts of the canal. Passengers on these cruises can see beautiful parts of China that other visitors don't see.

    There are many kinds of music in the world, pop music, classical music, folk music and so on. Do you know country music? It's a traditional kind of music from the southern states of America. I like it very much! It will take me away for a while after I am tired. The guitars and songs will take me to mountains and fields.

    Country music usually talks of everyday life and feeling. It's like the spirit of America, easy to understand, slow and simple.

    Country music developed in the Southern United States. It was the folk music of American countryside. Many of songs tell about the lives of farmers. They talk about love, crops or death. The life of the countryside can be hard, so the words in country music are often sad. At first, people played the music only at family parties.

    But it became more popular later. In the 1920s, people played country songs on the radio, and they made them into records.

    When people in the countryside moved to towns and cities to look for work, they took their music with them. Country music continued to change and became popular across America.

    John Denver was one of America's most famous country singers in the 1970s. His song Take Me Home, Country Roads is well-known and people still play it today.