La Tomatina, Spain

    Tomato juice flows through the streets of Bunol on the last Wednesday of August as the worlds largest tomato fight happens. Festivities begin in the town square where there is a huge pole covered in soap and with a leg of ham at the top. Participants try to climb up the pole to get the ham as watchers throw buckets of water to them. After a gun is fired to signal the beginning of the fight, people catch the tomatoes and throw each other in the streets until the gun sounds again, marking the end of the event.

    Holi, India

    This spring festival is celebrated throughout the country in late February or early March. The two-day event celebrates the legend of Prahlad, who escaped unharmed from the fire of the evil Holika Dahan. People mark the event by lighting fires and throwing colored powder on one another Children load colored water into toy pistols called pichkari and take aim at passers-by. Holi is known as a happy celebration of the victory of good over evil.

    Burning Man, Nevada

    This infamous festival began in 1986 with the burning of a large figure to mark the summer solstice (夏至). It's since grown into a week-long annual event that draws more than 48,000 people to the Black Rock Dessert. It is held during the week before Labor Day. Participants set up camp in the desert to celebrate art.

    Songkran, Thailand

    This festival marks the Thai New Year, which is celebrated in the second week of April. This is the hottest time of the year in Thailand, so it makes sense that the biggest Songkran tradition is to throw water on people. Thais of all ages join in water fights, using buckets, hoses (软管) and water guns to celebrate the event.

    In university I had a part-time job at a shop that sold doughnuts and coffee. Situated on a block where several buses stopped, it served the people who had a few minutes to wait for their bus.

    Every afternoon around four o'clock, a group of schoolchildren would burst into the shop, and business would come to a stop. Adults would glance in, see the crowd and pass on. But I didn't mind if the children waited for their bus inside. Sometimes I would hand out a bus fare when a ticket went missing — always repaid the next day. On snowy days I would give away some doughnuts. I would lock the door at closing time, and we waited in the warm shop until their bus finally arrived.

    I enjoyed my young friends, but it never occurred to me that I played an important role in their lives — until one afternoon when a man came and asked if I was the girl working on weekdays around four o'clock. He identified himself as the father of two of my favorites.

    "I want you to know I appreciate what you do for my children. I worry about them taking two buses to get home. It means a lot that they can wait here and you keep an eye on them. When they are with the doughnut lady, I know they are safe." I told him it wasn't a big deal, and that I enjoyed the kids.

    So I was the Doughnut Lady. I not only received a title, but became a landmark.

    Now I think about all the people who keep an eye on my own children. They become, well, Doughnut Ladies. Like the men at the skating rink (滑冰场) who let my boys ring home; Or the bus driver who drove my daughter to her stop at the end of the route at night but wouldn't leave until I arrived to pick her up; Or that nice police officer who took pity on my boys walking home in the rain when I was at work — even though the phone rang all the next day with calls from curious neighbors. "Was that a police car I saw at your house last night?"

    That wasn't a police car. That was a Doughnut Lady.

    One of the most famous buildings in the United States is Carnegie Hall, the home of classical and popular music concerts in New York. Carnegie Hall is known not just for its beauty and history, but also for its amazing sound. It has been said that the hall itself is an instrument. It takes the music and makes it larger than life.

    Carnegie Hall is named after Andrew Carnegie, who paid for its construction. Construction on Carnegie Hall began in 1890 and the official opening night was on May 5, 1891.

    The hall was owned by the Carnegie family until 1924 when it was sold to Robert E. Simon. The building became very old and in 1960, the new owner made plans to destroy it and build an office block. Isaac Stem led a group of people who fought to save Carnegie Hall and finally, the city of New York bought it for $5 million. It was then fixed up between 1983 and 1995.

    Advertisements and stories in newspapers about how Carnegie Hall needed help to recover its history led people to send in old concert programmes and information from all over the world. Over 12,000 concert programmes were received and with these it was possible to make a proper record of Carnegie Hall's concert history.

Carnegie Hall is actually made up of several different halls, but the Main Hall, now called the Isaac Stern Hall, is the most famous. The hall itself can hold an audience of 2,804 in five levels of seating.

    Because the best and most famous musicians of all time have played at Carnegie Hall, it is the dream of most musicians who want to be great to play there. This has led to a very old joke which is now part of Carnegie Hall's history. Question: "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" Answer: "Practise, practise, practise."

    Military training has long been considered a ritual (仪式) that freshmen must go through in order to officially start their college lives. While some question the necessity of such training. Many students see military training as a campus tradition that should be maintained.

    Early in February, the Ministry of Education issued a new regulation that colleges and universities should carry out a minimum of 14 days compulsory military training for freshmen.

    In a report by Beijing Evening News, Hou Zhengfang, a Beijing-based education PhD, questioned the benefits of military training. "The training routine does little to improve students' physical fitness over only two weeks' time. Maybe some disaster prevention training, such as earthquake survival or escaping from fires would be of greater benefit."

    Meng Yang, a 19-year-old freshman at Guangxi University, fainted during training. She said that many students, especially girls, are willing to train under direct sunshine. "For me, military training is physically challenging and even damages my health."

    According to Li Jian from the student affairs office of Guangzhou University, feeling dizzy happens frequently during military training and the school has received a lot of complaints from both students and parents: "But I still think military training is a good thing. Students are easier to manage after the military training. They became more positive about their new environment after the training."

    Although autumn is fast approaching Beijing, the noon heat burns 3300 freshmen on Tsinghua University's campus. Chu Jinjing, a freshman majoring in medicine, did feel some discomfort while training in sweaty clothes in the glaring heat, the 18-year-old still enjoyed being part of group going through strict exercises. "By going through this tough training, students bond faster and a sense of belonging to the school can be formed. I've made a lot of friends already."

    According to the Ministry of Education, the purpose of military training is to teach students discipline, the spirit of teamwork and endurance. But in reality, according to Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21^stCentury Education Research Institute, the effect is not satisfying. "Such goals require long-term development. It is unrealistic to expect military training to make a difference in only 14 days." He thus suggests that it should be up to schools to conduct military training in a way that best suits their students.

    However, Wang Wenhui, an 18-year-old freshman from Xi'an Jiaotong University, sees military training as a tradition that reaches beyond character building. "From junior and senior high school to college, we join military training to start a new journey. I would feel a bit incomplete without it."

Gift Guide

    Chocolates

    The weather outside may be frightful but the smiles and smells inside are abundant! For all those special people on our Christmas girl list, send the sweat treats to help spread the joyous holiday cheer. What is the perfect gift for any occasion? Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate!

    La Place Collection

    Location: Suite 3, 41 Xinyuanjie, near Beijing Chateau

    Tel: 010-64668090

    Comptoirs de France Bakery

    Location: Rm 102, 1/F, Building 15, China Central Place, 89 Jianguolu.

    Tel: 010-65305480

    Awfully Chocolate

    Location: 108, Building 2, Beijing Wanda Plaza, 87 Jianguolu.

    Tel: 010-58205826

    Recipe books

    A recipe book from a different culture provides a chance to change up a Christmas dinner. Think about sitting down to a table of Mexican wedding cookies, Norwegian lefse, Chilean salmon, cream cheese lart and Chinese dishes. If you can't find the right one in time, search online, print the page and bind them into a book yourself. Nothing says, "I really care!" more than making an effort.

    Wine

    Get to the nearest Carrefour, and seize a bottle of good wine from among the 600 choices available there from Italy, Spain, the United States, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Switzerland. 150-3, 000 yuan a bottle.

    Location: Wine section on 2/F, Carrefour Shuangjing Branch, 31 Guangqu Lu, Chaoyang District.

    Opening hours: 9 a. m.- 10p. m.

    Tel: 010-51909508/09

    Pearls

    The top level of Hongqiao Market has strand upon strand of pearls in every shape and color imaginable. Pearls never go out of style and make for a good gift for women with classic tastes.

    Hongqiao Market

    Location: Tian Tan East Road, east of the Temple of Heaven

    Opening hours: 8: 30 a. m.-9 p. m., open daily

    Tel: 010-67133354