Dear Mike，

      I'm so glad you're coming to China! Your mother，our foreign English teacher，told me you're worried about what you should and shouldn't do as a guest in China．Here's some advice．You will probably be invited to a big meal. You may find it earlier than you expect because Chinese people eat dinner much earlier than people in the West．There will be a lot of different dishes，not just three courses．You may find it difficult to use chopsticks if you haven't tried before．It's a good idea to get some practice．When the food is served，you should take time to look at it. The preparation takes a long time and everything will look beautiful．The plates will be placed in the middle of the table，for everyone to share．Take a little of everything and then have some more of the things you like．Chinese people like to talk about food，so it's a good topic of conversation．At the end of the meal，you will usually be served with fruit．Eat your fruit，thank your friends， and go．

      I hope this is helpful．E-mail me if you have any other questions． 

                                                                                                                              Yours，

                                                                                                                                   David Zhang

    Stonehenge means "hanging stones". They stood in a circle, with 30 more stones lying on top to form a ring of rocks. There was also an inner circle built with similar stones. The stones set up in a trilithon(巨石牌坊) pattern.

    A trilithon is made of two stone pillars with a stab of rock laid across the top. The stones weigh up to 20 tons each. People wonder how the huge rocks were placed that way.

    Historians agree that Stonehenge was built in three different stages. The first stage took place about 5, 000 years ago. At that time, a large circular earth wall was made. Historians believe the wall was dug and cut with tools made form anglers(鹿角) of red deer. The earth wall was about 98m in diameter(直径) a 5-meter-tall stone was placed near the center. Then, they had to transport the large blue stones (up to 4 tons) 384 kilometers to Stonehenge. Experts think they might be moved across ice and snow. The ground in winter in this area is usually full of ice and snow, making it easier to move the rocks. The next task was to stand the stones up. The most difficult task was putting the top stones in place. Each one of these tasks took a lot of planning and a lot of strength, but the workers of Stonehenge were excellent builders.

    Why was the monument built? Some scientists think it's a burial ground. There are over 400 graves (burial sits) nearby. A man was buried with two gold earrings which are the oldest gold ever found in Britain (dated to 2470 BC). Others think Stonehenge was built by early astronomers. Scientists believe that when a person stands in the center of the monument, the changing of seasons can be seen. Certain stones mark the location of the rising and setting moon in midwinter. Other stones mark the rising and setting sun in midsummer. The ancient people held religious ceremonies on these days. These ceremonies probably asked the gods to bring good weather for crops and to protect the people from bad weather.

    Stonehenge is an engineering success. Thousands of years later, it still stands. As a calendar, Stonehenge is very accurate. It shows that early people had a deep understanding of the movements to the sun and the moon. They didn't have machines or computers, but Stonehenge shows people could do many things using only their muscles and their brains.

    The first Starbucks (星巴克) coffee shop opened in 1971 in downtown Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It was a small coffee shop that roasted its own coffee beans. The coffee shops business did well, and by 1981 there were three more Starbucks shops in Seattle.

    Things really began to change for the company in 1981. That year, Howard Schultz met the three men who ran Starbucks. Schultz worked in New York for a company that made kitchen equipment (设备). He noticed that Starbucks ordered a large number of special coffee makers and he was curious about the company. Schultz went to Seattle to see what Starbucks did, and he liked what he saw. He wanted to become part of the company. In 1982, the original (原先的) Starbucks owners hired (聘用) Schultz as the company's head of marketing.

    In 1983, Schultz travelled to Italy. The special atmosphere of the coffee bars there caught his eyes. To Schultz it seemed that Italians spent their daily lives in three places: home, work, and coffee bars. His experience in Italy gave Schultz a new idea for Starbucks back in Seattle.

Schultz created an atmosphere for Starbucks coffee shops that was comfortable, and customers (顾客) everywhere seemed to like it. Between 1987 and 1992, Starbucks opened 150 new shops—and that was only the beginning. In fact, by the year 2000, three new Starbucks shops opened somewhere around the world every day!

    Today, Starbucks has thousands of shops, including shops in twenty-six countries. One thing that helps make Starbucks succeed in cities outside the United States is the way Starbucks works with local shops and restaurants. By working together with a store already in the city, Starbucks gets an understanding of customers in the city. This understanding helps Starbucks open shops in the right locations for their customers.

    Besides chopsticks vs. knives and forks, there are more differences between Chinese and western dinning.

    Cooking methods

    While westerners boil, fry roast and bake, Chinese use more methods of cooking, like frying, stewing, boiling and steaming. Besides, Chinese cooks cut everything into small pieces, so people don't need knives to cut it but just pick up their food with chopsticks. Westerners cook food in big pieces and serve it with knives and forks for cutting it up.

    Ingredients and spices

    Chinese dishes use many ingredients seldom seen in western cooking, like animal feet, ears, tongues and so on. Chinese usually use animal or peanut oil to fry food; westerners use more butter and olive oil. Chinese cooks like to add spices when cooking, like ginger, pepper, garlic, etc. Western cooks usually use pepper powder, mustard(芥末), and tomato ketchup(番茄酱), etc.

    Serving the dishes

    On the western table, vegetable soup or salad is usually served as the starter, then the main course includes beef, chicken or fish. After the main course, normally some sweet food is served, which can be ice cream, cakes, fruits, etc.

    On the Chinese table, the cold dishes and drinking are first. After that, kinds of meat and vegetable dishes are served, to be followed by soup. Then Chinese usually have rice, noodles or dumplings as main course. At last, Chinese like having fresh fruit such as watermelons and pears after meal. That can make one feel fresh and cool in his mouth and stomach.

    Placing the dishes

    In western dinner, dishes are served in each person's own plate. So each person uses a big plate. In China, dishes are served at the middle of the table for all to share, and each person uses a small plate in front of him or her to hold the food.