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.

    Well, it's time for WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. Today we have some expressions offered by Francisco Carlos, a listener in Brazil.

    The first is "face the music". One story says the expression began in the theater. New actors, shaking with fear, were told that their only way out was to go out and face the music. The music was played by the musicians seated in front of the stage.

    A similar expression is "face up to". It means to accept something difficult or painful. For example, a man must face up to the fact that he lied about a business deal and will lose his job.

    A child was told off by his mother at home because of his bad grades in study, but he put a good face on it before his friends.

    Meeting someone face-to-face can be exciting, especially if the other person is famous. It is an expression one might use after visiting the White House and meeting the president face to face. Or a teacher might ask for a face to-face meeting with the parents of a student in trouble.

    Almost 500 years ago, William Shakespeare also used some words about music in his play Two Gentlemen of Verona. Valentine secretly loves Lady Sylvia. His servant jokes that Valentine's love for her is as hard to see as the nose on a man's face, thus creating another expression: as plain as the nose on your face. Of course, a man's nose can't be hidden.

Celebrate :庆祝  Lunar:农历  Lantern:灯  Riddles:谜

    Sports are important in English life. The people of England are sports lovers. Some of the world's famous sports began here such as football and cricket.

    Football is a game played in winter and early spring. Lots of people play football in parks or playgrounds just for fun. With hundreds of year's history, it is one of the most important sports in England. The English love football very much and they turned most of their main players into famous persons. David Beckham and Bobby Charlton became heroes for many children. The most interesting part of the English football year is the FA(Football Association) Cup Final each May.