Most people have flown a kite or have seen one ride and dip(下降）in strong spring wind. Not so many people know that kites were first made in China thousands of years ago. The ancient Chinese were making and flying kites even before they were writing.

    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(固定）so that they made strange sounds. Men at war 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 grow rich and tall. Sometimes they tied long strings(细绳）and hooks(钩) to their kites. Then they would fly the kites over water, letting the hooks hang down to catch fish.

    The Chinese use sticks(树枝), strings and paper for their kites. Some of these kites look like animals or trees. Others look like birds or houses.

    My name is Jim. I am twelve. That is my mother. She is 35 years old. She likes fruit. That is my father. He is 37 years old. He likes meat. That girl is my sister, Kate. She is eight. Oh, she likes ice cream. This is Polly. It is a bird. it is a parrot. It's so cute. We all like it.

    It's warm today. We're in the park. It's a beautiful park. We can see trees. We can see some birds in the trees. They're singing. Look! Mary is reading. Tom is eating. Peter is playing football. Jim is painting. We're happy in the park.

This is Ted's China diary.

Saturday, July 23   Sunny and hot

    Bill's family took me to Xidan today. It's a famous shopping centre in Beijing.

    We went to Xidan Bookshop first. Bill's father bought some books for me. He bought two English books about China and one English-Chinese dictionary. I am happy because now I can learn more about China and also learn more Chinese.

    Next we went to a big shopping mall. First I bought a lovely toy panda for my cousin. I also bought silk scarves for my mum and Tina, and a silk shirt for my dad. Then Bill took me to a special kite shop. There were so many beautiful kites. Bill bought me a kite that looks like a bird. Bill is going to teach me to fly it tomorrow.

    Last, we went to a restaurant. We ate delicious Beijing duck there. I really like Chinese food.

Questions:

    I'm Lily. I live in a big house. My bedroom is yellow. It's beautiful. My mother's bedroom is nice. It's blue. Our kitchen is clean. It's white. Our bathroom is grey. It's clean, too. There is a living room. It's very big. It's green.