…I’ll talk about the basic things about China, like the location and culture.
I’ll start off with the geographical location. China is a relatively large country located in Asia. I actually don’t know that much else, but I’ll say that I think it’s in southern Asia, next to India, above the Indian Ocean, and to the left of the Pacific Ocean. That way my friends can have a rough idea of where China is, and I won’t have to get in trouble for dishonesty.
Oh yeah, and the capital of China is Beijing (北京). A famous landmark that may or may not be in Beijing is the Great Wall of China, which stretches for hundreds of feet. It first started construction around 3400 BCE. (I think. Or maybe I’m just thinking of cuneiform. But that’s a whole other region.)
Next, I’ll go over the culture of China. Specifically the most commonly known festival: Lunar New Year. Lunar New Year is the new year of the lunar calendar, which Chinese people use. It’s usually in January, February, or March. One can celebrate Lunar New Year with red lanterns and red dragon decorations. There also might be a local festival happening that one can attend. Personally, I like to wear my gold horse necklace with a red string, go with my sister to my next-door-neighbor’s house, play video games for hours, and eat a feast with my family and my next-door-neighbor’s family. …Okay, maybe that was a one-time thing, but it was still fun.
Then, I’ll discuss Chinese zodiacs. The horse necklace that I wore to my neighbor’s house is actually symbolizing that my Chinese zodiac is the horse. If my friends don’t know what a Chinese zodiac is, I’ll say: “Cerealously?” (“Seriously” and “cereal” mashed together.) After they nod, I’ll proceed to explain that the Chinese zodiac is also based on the lunar calendar (remember that from earlier?), and that it’s basically the same as the American zodiacs, except that the zodiacs change every year instead of every month. There’s 12 zodiacs, and the zodiacs rotate every year, so somebody with the same zodiac as you is a multiple of 12 years older/younger than you. Or they can be born in the same year as you, and in that case, they would still have the same zodiac. I don’t remember all 12 of the zodiacs, but the ones that I do are listed here (in no particular order): Mouse, Rabbit, Dog, Ox, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Tiger, Rooster, Pig.
FOOD is a big part of culture! I’ll talk about traditional foods and how food from different regions will taste. A food that is used in a festival is the moon cake. It’s included in the moon festival, which takes place in the middle of autumn. The Chinese name for the moon festival, 中秋节, literally means “mid-autumn holiday”. 中 means middle, 秋 means autumn, and 节 means holiday. Moving on to regional food. The most popular kind of Chinese food is from Sichuan (四川), which is numbingly spicy. It’s spiciness is because the Sichuan region is hot, so the Sichuan people use spice to cool down. (Or something like that. I’m not really sure how it works.)
Finally, I’ll finish with a little bit of history. Ancient China had eras called “dynasties”. Each dynasty had a king (国王). I’m pretty sure a new dynasty began when a new king started ruling. Since I don’t know that much about history, I’ll list the one dynasty I know: the Tang Dynasty.
After I’m done with Chinese history, I’ll say, “And…that’s it!”
(Third Prize)
