The Dragon Boat Festival also called the Duan Wu Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month according to the Chinese calendar. For thousands of years, the festival has been marked by eating Zong Zi and racing dragon boats. To hold the dragon boat races is in memory of Qu Yuan, one of the greatest poets (诗人) in China.

    Qu Yuan was born in Zigui of Hubei Province over 2,200 years ago. Qu Yuan was an honest minister(大臣) of the State of Chu, during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) (战国时期). He was upright(正直的)and wise. He wanted to bring his country peace and make the State stronger, but the country was in the hands of bad officials, he failed. At last, he was very discouraged. He ended his life by throwing himself into the Miluo River. It was said that people were trying to save him. But it was too late. Also, they were very sad and they threw rice into the water to feed Qu Yuan's spirit.

    Now we read his poem Li Sao which was filled with deep love for his country. We can see the dragon boat races and have a kind of Chinese food named Zong Zi to eat during the Dragon Boat Festival.

    It seems that many stars are putting their fashion (时尚) skills to good use and some of them have succeeded in designing.

    Avril Lavigne

    “With a lot of designs, I try to tie in with some of my lyrics and more musical elements,” Lavigne said. Her product, named after a childhood nickname (绰号) from her father, was created three years ago, but Lavigne came up with the first idea for a clothing product when she was only 19 years old.

Victoria Beckham

    Victoria created her own style of jeans for the clothing brand (品牌) Rock & Republic in 2004. Later, she created her own brand with the name DVB style and now she is more popular as a designer than as a singer.

    Madonna

    Pop queen Madonna created her fashion products in collaboration (合作) with the Swedish clothing company Hennes & Mauritz AB ( H&M) in 2007. She then collaborated with her daughter Lourders in creating 2010 juniors' product for Macy's called “Material Girl”.

    Jessica Simpson

    Jessica Simpson created her own collection of jeans. She worked with the Camuto Group and Jones Apparel Group Inc.

    Justin Timberlake

    No one could imagine that Justin would become a fashion designer until he paired with his friend Trace Ayala to create the William Rast label. Their clothing is presented every season and attracts attention of Timberlake's fans and models.

    Amsterdam is the bike capital of the world. Biking is a fun and easy way of getting around Amsterdam.

    Students go to school by bicycle. People ride their bicycles to work. Travelers ride bicycles freely around the city. Even police work on bicycles. You can see these every day in Amsterdam.

    There are many roads and traffic signs（标记）for bicycles. There are also many places for bicycle parking.

    If you travel in Amsterdam, you don't need to take a bus or taxi, just a bicycle. You can ride the bicycle along the roads and the streets enjoying the scenery（风景）. The city has a lot of bicycle shops to choose from. If you do not want to buy a bicycle, you can go to rent（租赁）a bicycle. They are in almost every part of the city. Going for a ride is enjoyable. It's a good idea to find an experienced guide. Because he would take you to some of the city's most beautiful places. Riding bicycles in Amsterdam is of great fun and relaxing; just remember to follow the traffic rules.

    The World Memory Championships is an organized competition of memory sports in which competitors memorize as much information as possible within a given period of time. Tony Buzan, the founder of the competition, believes that everyone can improve their memories. The first World Memory Championship was held in London in 1991 and London kept holding the following ten competitions. It takes place every year, with the exception of 1992. The winner of the first competition was Dominic O'Brien, so was the second competition.

    The 19th and 20th World Memory Championships were held in Guangzhou, China. 130 competitors from all over the world gathered there in the 20th World Memory Championships. Over the following three days, the competitors had mental boundaries (限度) tested by memorizing numbers, images, dates, names and faces, as well as packs of cards, all against the clock. The prize was to become the next Grand Memory Master. More than a quarter of the competitors were female and the oldest was 74 years old. Many of the competitors believed the memorizing techniques they practiced could help them achieve other goals in life. But for that moment, their focus was all in their heads.

    Wang Feng, the winner of the 20th World Memory Championships, made the record by memorizing 2660 numbers within an hour. He said, "I won the Championship last year. To keep the achievement, I had to practice 5 to 6 hours every day over the last three months."

    As we know, there are differences between western culture and Chinese culture. We can see differences when we pay attention to the way words are used. Let's look at the words about animals and plants. Most expressions in Chinese about dogs, for example, a homeless dog, a mad dog and a dog catching a mouse, have negative meanings. But in western countries, dogs are thought to be honest and good friends of humans. In English, people use the dog to describe positive actions. For example, you are a lucky dog means you are a lucky person. And every dog has its day means each person has good luck sometimes. To describe a person's serious illness, they say sick as a dog. The word dog-tired means very tired. However, Chinese love cats very much. But in western culture, cat is often used to describe a woman who is cruel.

    The rose is regarded as a symbol of love in both China and some western countries. People think the rose means love, peace, courage and friendship. And the rose is the national flower of England, America and many other countries.

    The words about plants and animals are used in positive or negative ways in different cultures. We can learn about many differences in cultures by comparing how some words are used.