The Double Ninth Festival

    The Double Ninth Festival, also named the “Chong Yang Festival”, is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

    The festival began as early as the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). In ancient time, numbers were mysterious and were divided into yin and yang. Yin means something of darkness and yang means life and brightness. The number nine is regarded as yang. The ninth day of the ninth month is a double yang day, so it is called “Chong Yang Festival”. (Chong means “repeat” in Chinese)

    People always climb mountains and drink chrysanthemum wine on the Double Ninth Festival. It is hard to say when the customs were created. But there are many stories which are closely related. As recorded in a historical book of the sixth century, in ancient times, there lived a man named Huang Jing. He was learning the magic arts from Fei Changfang. One day, they were climbing a mountain. Fei Changfang suddenly stopped and looked very upset. He said to Huang Jing, “On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, a big trouble will come to your hometown”. You must go home immediately. Remember to make a red bag for each one of your family members and leave home quickly and climb to the top of a mountain. Most importantly, you must all drink some chrysanthemum wine. Only by doing so can your family members avoid the big trouble.

    On hearing this, Huang Jing rushed home and asked his family to do exactly as his teacher said. The whole family climbed a nearby mountain and did not return until the evening. When they got back home, they found all their animals dead, including chickens, sheep, dogs and so on.

    Since then, climbing a mountain and drinking chrysanthemum wine became the traditional activities of the Double Ninth Festival, to avoid evil spirits and bad luck. Nowadays, the Double Ninth Festival is also a time for family get-togethers to do some exercise as well as enjoy the autumn scenery.

    The British Museum is the biggest museum in the world. Inside, you feel smaller than usual. There are many things to see.

    The story of the British Museum goes back three hundred years to one unusual man, Sir Hans Sloane, a doctor to King George II. The doctor collected books, drawings, clothes, money, animals, flowers, things from all over the world. The doctor wanted everything to stay together when he died, so that people could come and have a look. The British Museum began. King George II gave his library, and the museum started to grow.

    The British Museum opened in 1759, six years after Sir Hans Sloane died. At first the museum was only open three days a week and only ten people could enter in an hour. There wasn't much time to see things.  Visitors had to run through the room.

    By about 1800, things began to get better. Wonderful statues, three thousand years old, arrived from Egypt. King George IV sold all his books to the museum secretly. A hundred years ago not only old books but also new ones arrived at the museum, and more people came to read them. Since then many famous men have written and studied there. And the library is growing faster and faster. There are four kilometers of new shelves every year and there are about two million visitors every year.

Barry lives in the west African nation of Guinea (几内亚). He wanted to study at one of the best schools in Cairo, Egypt, but he didn't have money to pay for the bus or train. Then, Barry drew a map of Africa and started his trip on a second- hand mountain bike.

With only a few clothes, a flashlight(手电筒), and a small tool, the 25- year- old young man rode more than 4,000 kilometers across Africa, in the hope of getting into the school and finding a way to pay for it.

Four months later, he arrived in Cairo and got a full scholar(全额奖学金) to the school." If you have a dream, keep with it and be strong," Barry said.

Barry rode about 100 kilometers each day. He rode through(经过) Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Niger and Chad. After the long ride through those countries, his luck came in Chad. There, a kind man read about his trip online and helped him fly straight to Egypt. With his help, Barry arrived in Cairo successfully(成功地) and days later got a full scholarship to the school.

Barry wants to go back to Guinea when he finishes his studies." When I go back to my country, I would like to be a teacher. I want to tell people how to do good things," he says.

Hello everyone! Welcome to Class 1, Grade 7! I'm your English teacher Miss Li.  I come from Guangzhou.  I have taught English for ten years and I'm forty years old now.  You are new here.  Now let me tell you something about our school day. 

The school gate opens at 7:20 in the morning.  You can take school buses to school.  You can ask your parents to drive you to school, too.  If your home is close to our school, you can also walk or ride a bike to school every day. 

Your morning classes start at 8:00 and end at 11:45.  There are four lessons for you and you have a fifteen-minute break after two lessons.  In the morning, you usually study Chinese, Maths, History and English. 

At lunchtime, you can have lunch in the school cafeteria. There are vegetables, meat, and fruits that are good for your health.  The lessons in the afternoon begin at 2:30.  There are only two lessons and they are usually P. E. , Music or Art.  They are fun.  You can have a good time.  After school, you have outdoor activities. You can play basketball with your classmates or read in the school library.  You must keep quiet in the school library.  Then you can go home and do your homework. 

So, what other things do you want to know?