More and more young people from China begin to celebrate（庆祝）Father's Day. They send fathers present, or invite them for a nice dinner. But do you know how Father's Day started?

    While Mrs. Dodd, from America, was listening to a talk about Mother's Day in a church （教堂）in 1909, she had an ideas of having Father's Day to honor（纪念）her father, William Smart. Mr. Smart used to be a soldier(军人). His wife died when she gave birth to her sixth child. Mr. Smart had to raise his six children alone. They lived a hard life. After Mrs. Dodd grew up, she wanted to thank her father for what he had done for them. She wrote a letter to a church and asked for the third Sunday in June to be Father's Day. The church agreed with her.

The first Father's Day was celebrated on June 19th, 1910 in Washington. Children made special desserts and did other things to make their fathers happy.

    We spoke to three students from around the world about different national holidays．There are different customs (习俗) for each festival．

Tan Xiaodong.15．Hong Kong, China

    “It'll be Chinese New Year soon．Before it we'll clean the house and decorate(装饰) it for good luck．Every shop is going to close for a few days and we'll go out a lot to celebrate in the streets．We might go and see the lion and dragon dances in the city center．I love this festival．”

    Wendy, 16, Sydney, Australia

    “Australia Day is on 26th January and it's an important holiday here．We always have a Monday off, so we celebrate for three days．My parents and I go to the countryside for a picnic and friends always come over．Many people go to beach parties or street parties and there's lots of music and dancing．What fun!”

    Amy, 14, New York, the USA

    “The first Thanksgiving Day was hundreds years ago when Europeans who came to America thanked God for his help．It's still a very important day for families to be together．This year we're going to visit my parents and we'll eat a delicious meal of turkey．Thanksgiving Day is on the fourth Thursday in November every year．”

    On Christmas Eve─the night before Christmas Day─children all over Britain put a stocking at the end of their beds before they go to sleep. Their parents usually tell them that Father Christmas will come during the night.

    Father Christmas is very kind and hearted. He gets to the top of each house and climbs down the chimney into the fireplace. He fills each of the stockings with Christmas presents.

    Of course, Father Christmas isn't real. In Jim and Kate's house, "Father Christmas" is really Mr Green. Mr Green doesn't climb down the chimney. He waits until the children are asleep. Then he quietly goes into their bedrooms and fills their stockings with small presents. When they were very young, Mr Green sometimes wore a red coat. But he doesn't do that now. The children are no longer young, and they know who "Father Christmas" really is. But they still put their stockings at the end of their beds.

    Kwanzaa（宽扎节）is a celebration of African American history and culture. It begins on December 26th and continues until New Year's Day, January 1st.

    During the festival, a family member, usually the youngest child, lights candles in a special candle holder. Each night a candle is lit. Traditionally there are three green candles, three red candles and a central black candle. They represent the seven Kwanzaa principles （原则）. The principles are believed to play a big role in building strong, successful families, neighborhoods, etc. In the evenings, adults share stories and explain how to follow the seven principles in daily life. On the sixth day, which falls on New Year's Eve, family and friends get together to enjoy a large meal.

    Kyle, a third grader, wrote this about Kwanzaa, "When we celebrate Kwanzaa, we have many people at home, light the candles, and have a nice dinner. We learn the meaning of Kwanzaa and remember family members. We say something good about them. Last year, we remembered my grandmother. "

    In 1966, Dr. Karenga created Kwanzaa. He was studying the history of Africa at that time. Dr. Karenga wanted to create a holiday to bring African Americans together and celebrate their history and culture. He called the holiday" Kwanzaa". In fact, the name comes from an African language, and it means" first fruits of the harvest （收获季节）".

    Have you ever heard of Weifang, Shandong Province? What is it known for? There is an international kite festival every April in Weifang. It is a modern city with many traditions. People from all over the world compete in the kite flying in Weifang. There are also competitions for the best kites. The kites in the competition are all made by hand.

    Most people have flown a kite. It makes people happy. It's easy to make it. It's made of bamboo and paper. But not so many people know that kites were first made in China thousands of years ago. The ancient Chinese made and flew kites even before they could write.

    A long time ago, the Chinese made kites to use in wars. They would fly these war kites in the dark. The kites were fixed and they made strange sounds in wind. Men who were at war against them would hear these sounds and run away. They thought those strange sounds were made by gods in the sky.

    The ancient Chinese also flew kites to bring good luck and to make their crops (稻谷) grow rich and tall. Sometimes they tied long strings and hooks(绳子和钩子) to their kites. Then they would fly the kites over water, letting the hooks hang down to catch fish.

    The Chinese use sticks, string and paper for their kites. Some of these kites look like animals or trees and others look like houses.

    About more than a hundred years ago，an American produced a game. He called it indoor tennis. The Americans were not interested in it at first but he sent it to his friends in London and it became very popular in Britain. The game was then played across dining-room tables，or on the floor with the net strung between two chairs. The balls were made of cork（软木）or rubber. The bats（球拍）were made of wood.

    A few years later a hollow ball like the one we use today was invented. The game then quickly spread all over the world. An Englishman once made a bat covered with rubber. He first sold the game in England and called it "Ping pong". "Ping" was the sound of the bat when it hit the ball, and" IPong" was the sound of the ball when it hit the table.