新年元宵节情人节

进入MP3音频下载页面 [F8键暂停/播放] 一个女人用英语改变人生The number of North Americans who went to the cinema in 2010 was around 5 percent downon the 2009 total, figures show. Box office analysts forecast1.35 billion tickets will be sold bythe end of the year, down on 1.42 billion sold in 2009. It is the biggest year-on-year drop since2005, making 2010 the se cond lowest attended year of the decade. Yet, box,office revenuesremained a bout the same at 10.7 billion dollars due to increased ticket prices. Animated movieToy Story 3 was the highest grossing film of the year at the U.S. box off ice, earning nearly 450million dollars. The Pixar sequel, like the second highes t grossing title Alice in Wonderland,爱丽丝梦游仙境 wasone of several hit movies released in 3D. It is thought the attendance fi gures in the U.S. andCanada will rise next year when sequels to hit comedies The Hangover and Pirates of theCaribbean are released.一部非常成功，非常叫座滴电影Some Hotmail users are reporting that their e-mails are missing from their ac counts. A numberof people with Hotmail accounts have posted complaints on Microsoft forums complaining thattheir e-mails have been ers arou nd the world said e-mails were missing from theirinbox 收件箱and other folders n. 文件夹 within their Hotmail accounts. A spokeswoman from Microsoft said the issu e of missing e-mails was not a widespread problem. By Sunday evening the issue wasfully resolved, she said. The company apologize for any inconven ience.TimeTime is tangible. One can gain time, spend time, waste time, save time, or e ven kill mon questions in American English reveal this concrete qu ality as though time were a possession. “Do you have any time?”,“Can you get some time for this?”,“How much free timedo you have?” The treatment of time as a possession in fluences the way that time is carefullydivided.Generally, Americans are taught to do one thing at a time and may be uncom fortable when anactivity is interrupted. In businesses, the careful schedulin g of time and the separation ofactivities are common practices. Appointment c alendars are printed with 15-,30-, and 60-minutetime slots. The idea that “th ere is a time and place for everything” extends to American social life. Visitor s who drop by without prior notice may interrupt their host’s personal time. Thus,calling friends on the telephone before visiting them is generally preferre d to visitors’ droppingby.Research shows money can buy you loveHave you ever wondered what it takes to fall in love? As millions of people across the world celebrate Valentine’s Day, seeking the perfect opportunity to tell that special someone those three magical words, a global market research company says it has the an swer, money! And while the romantics will still insist that you can’t put a price tag on love, there does appear to be at least some substance to the claims.They say money can’t buy you love. But perhaps it can. New research suggests the more you earn, the more likely you are to find a romantic partner. If you earn over 50,000 pounds you have an almost 100 percent success rate. If you earn much less, your chances fall to just 17 percent.The study by retail analysts Mintel was carried out by Richard Cope."I think there’s a connection with social mobility, social opportunity. I think people in the top income bracket may travel more, they may work in lots of different places. I think they make more connections during their lifetime. So it affords them more opportunity to meet different partners." said Richard Cope, Senior Trends Consultant, Mintel.Flowers and chocolates are a traditional Valentine’s favorite. These days neither are cheap. But these Londoners say you can’t put a price tag on love."Love is f rom within and it’s not a financial matter.""Money doesn’t make you happy.""It’s got to be about the personality, money can only get you so far."For those who don’t want to leave finding love entirely to chance, there are on-line dating sites.They’re s till the number one way for people to meet. And specialist sites promising to match like-minded people are helping Cupid’s arrow hit the target more and more. "We’re seeing some very niche sites particularly in the States. Things like , that’s only going to let you fraternise with fellow Republicans or even which stops you wasting time meeting people that perhaps don’t share your dietary intolerances." said Richard Cope, Senior Trends Consultant, Mintel.Valentine’s Day is one of the most lucrative days in the retail calendar. This year the UK market alone is estimated to be worth around one billion pounds. Singletons are the biggest spenders as they splash out on new clothes and cosmetics - and perhaps a new chance at findi ng a ’significant other’.Lantern Festival meets Valentine's DayPlay VideoThe Chinese Lantern Festival this year coincides with Valentine's Day. People across the country are planning to celebrate the combined festivals in traditional and new ways.Well-known dancers and singers from Shanghai are visiting Taipei as people across the strait warm up for the coming Lantern Festival. The Shanghai troupe are singing, dancing and performing acrobatics in Taipei, before also visiting Taoyuan, Penghu and Yunlin.Back in the mainland, a dragon lantern parade is essential for ushering in the festival. And in Zhejiang Province, people are lighting lanterns days in advance.This year, Lantern Festival coincides with Valentine's Day. And as the festival atmosphere builds up, sales of flowers and chocolates, as well as a traditional Lantern Festival treat, are heating up fast."Sales of tangyuan and chocolates are increasing. Packed chocolates are selling well as young people like to give them as presents," said Zhang Bin, a supermarket employee in Shaoxing.But because of snow and low temperatures in Yunnan, China's major flower farming region, prices of flowers are much higher than usual. "Normally, a rose costs five to eight yuan, but goes up to 15 yuan on Valentine's Day. This year, prices are estimated to reach 25 to 30 yuan," said flower shop owner Xiong Yao.However, flower sales show no sign of dipping. And flowers booked by phone or on the internet are also receiving a warm holiday welcome.Dear rose for dear loverPrices aren’t coming up roses on this Valentines’ Day in China. That’s because the cost of the throned lovers’ blossoms has nearly doubled from 2013 prices due to a freak December snowstorm in Kunming, China’s flower-producing capital. The snowstorm in southwest China killed nearly half of the roses that would have landed in vases across the country.Kunming usually supplies 90 percent of China’s and the shortage has sent prices soaring. The cost of a single Kunming-grown rose bloomed to 16 yuan in Shanghai this week, twice as pricey as last year. An imported rose is even pricier. A single imported rose can cost as much as 80 yuan, or 13 US dollars. Flower dealers in Shanghai say 60 percent of the flowers they will se ll this Valentines’Day come from abroad. That’s up from just 20 percent last year.When Valentine's Day meets Lantern FestivalRed hearts, red roses, and pink decorations have already invaded the world. Yes, Valentine's Day is approaching, according to the Gregorian calendar used in the West. The Lantern Festival, in turn, is celebrated on January 15th of the Chinese lunar calendar and officially marks the end of Chinese New Year celebrations. Something worth noting this year is that Valentine's Day and the Lantern Festival fall on the same day this year, February the 14th.How should you spend the day when the festivities of east and west meet on the same day? Do you spend it with family or do you share your time with a significant other? On Valentine's Day, couples usually enjoy candlelight dinners and, to many, it's only appropriate to give out roses to your special someone. This year, on the same night, people will hang paper lanterns and gather with family-members to usher in the lunar New Year.Just like China's other traditional holidays, the Lantern Festival also has its own signature dish, called "Yuan Xiao", or sweet dumpling. Although the sweet dumplings vary in name and recipe across the country, they are always coated with glutinous rice flour. This year, clever merchants have combined sweet Valentine elements into the sweet dumplings. Here's Xiao Zhang, shop assistant at the time-honored Beijing Daoxiangcun Food Company."This year, for Valentine's Day and the Lantern Festival, we offer chocolate-filled yuan xiao, which is really popular right now. And the dumplings filled with rose petals and red bean paste are also in high demand. These are new deviations from the traditional tastes. The customers seem to like it!"Every year, Xiao Zhang sells more than three-thousand Jin, or 15 hundred kilograms, of yuan xiao at his branch. He says the yuan xiao business is at its peak as the Lantern Festival approaches. Because the round and squishy sweet rice dumplings symbolize the reunion of family, most Chinese families would consider the festival incomplete with the absence of this key dish.However, here is the February 14th dilemma: should you eat sweet rice dumplings with family or give your significant other a rose bouquet? One thing to consider is how the fall in flower-supplies this year has makes giving roses an expensive expression of adoration.As the country's flower production base in Kunming, Yunnan Province, suffers from rain and snow around the Spring Festival period, the supply of roses flowers dwindled significantly, which has subsequently driven up their price."The price for flowers will be at least twice as much as last year's. That's according to wholesale price hikes. Roses are the most expensive! Usually, the price will only continue to go up as we approach the big day."Appreciating the beauty of the full moon with family is quite an enjoyable activity. On this special date where Valentine's Day and the Lantern Festival meet, a good way to keep parents and your significant other happy is to bring them together at the same table. That may even save you some money.Enjoy February 14th everyone, with love, passion and happiness, and hopefully sweet dumplings at the same time!Centenarian couple celebrates 90th Valentine’s DayOne couple is t aking their marriage vows, till death do us part, all the way. In southwest China’s Sichuan province, 103-year-old Wu Conghan has given his 105 year-old wife a vegetable bouquet as a gift for Valentine’s Day.The 90 peas in the bouquet symbolizes the 90 years they have spent together. Truly a remarkable feat to stay together so long.One couple is taking their marriage vows, till death do us part,all the way.Temple fairs across China celebrate Lunar New YearPlay VideoGoing to temple fairs has also become a staple fixture of the Spring Festival for many people in China. People can enjoy various folk performances, special snacks and traditional culture.Here in Zhengzhou, captial of central China’s Henan province, the temple fair is saluting the past with people gathering at the Confucius temple to pay tribute to the ancient guru.There’s also an exhibition about Confucius and new year paintings, so visitors can enjoy the fair while learning more about traditions.And the temple fair wouldn’t be complete without various kinds of folk performances. And in Nanning in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the temple fair treats locals to face-changing performances, one of Sichuan opera’s most stunning techniques."It’s truly an art, but I still don’t know how he does it. And it’s not only the performers who dress up for the special occasion. Visitors to the fair also put on something different." a visitor said.And it’s not only the performers who dress up for the special occasion. Visitors to the fair also put on something different."I’m dressed as the Number One Scholar. Me too. This is the best time of year because I get to enjoy all kinds of snacks." a visitor said.The Spring Festival is also a special moment for family reunions and going to the temple fair is both a cultural and emotional experience."I want to wish my parents a healthy and happy life. And all the best wishes for my wife and son." a visitor said.As the spring festival week-long holiday is coming to an end, you better hurry to check out what the temple fair in your area has in store.Lantern markets spring up as Lunar New Year festivities endIn the city of Nanjing, local artists there have come up with different kinds of lanterns. It's no surprise that this year horse-themed lanterns are popular.Among the mountains of festive décor here, one theme is clear- horses are everywhere. These handmade, miniature horse-shaped lanterns come in various colors and designs. Some even come complete with hair and a tail.It's no surprise that this year horse-themed lanterns are popular.“When you buy a horse lantern you’re hoping for an auspicious year, a successful, happy, and wealthy y ear ahead.” said a vendor.And the image of the equine animal comes in many innovative forms this year. These small lanterns have been made into the shape of a cartoon horse, with a big head and short legs.“I like the horse -shaped lanterns and want to buy one. I hope my results in school will immediately go up!”One lantern artist, Mr. Chen, is making lanterns at the stall where he is also selling them. Displayed here are creations adapted from a successful design he made to mark the Asian Games when they were held in Beijing 24 years ago. Hundreds of lanterns made by Chen have been sold so far this year.“There were orders coming in yesterday, so I made two last night.” said Mr. Chen, Folk Artist.It's no surprise that this year horse-themed lanterns are popular.The world of lanterns has attracted hoards of festive customers this year. And whereas Boonie Bears and the big yellow duck make an appearance, the traditional designs, including the lotus flower, still remain popular. Some people will buy several, as gifts for family numbers.“I’ve bought a dragon and a horse. They are the zodiac animals of my family member s.”“We buy a lantern every year, in the hope that our kids will grow up with these lanterns. They seem to encapsulate the feeling of every new year.”Nearby cities in Jiangsu province have similar large-scale lantern markets lighting up the lantern festival for everyone.Lanterns hung up across China to greet upcoming Lantern FestivalNew YearLunar New Year´s EveLunar New Year's Eve, the last day of the old year, is one of China's most important traditional holidays. Homes are spotless in and out, doors and windows are decorated with brand new Spring Festival couplets, New Year's pictures, hangings, and images of the Door God, and everyone dresses up in new holiday clothes that are decorated with lucky patterns and auspicious colors.Lunar New Year's Eve, the last day of the old year, is one of China's mostimportant traditional holidays.To the Chinese, New Year's Eve dinner is more than just enjoying a grand feast. On this day, all Chinese all over the world, no matter how far away from home they are or how busy at work, will be home for dinner.The elaborate dinner is laden with auspicious food. The names of the dishes express the wish for good luck in the coming year. Most dishes are prepared with uncut or whole ingredients to ensure integrity and perfection. The use of knives is considered unlucky as this could sever the family's good fortune.The sumptuous New Year dinners are prepared with the most delicate culinary artistic skill and good wishes to welcome relatives and friends with a choice of festive treats. Today, a growing number of Chinese choose to have reunion dinners at restaurants or invite cooks home to make dinners for them.Legend has it that long ago during the age of great floods, there was a vicious monster named Nian, which means year. Whenever the thirtieth day of the last lunar month arrived, this monster would rise up out of the sea, killing people and wrecking havoc in their fields and gardens. The people would bar their doors before dark and sit up all night, coming out the next day to greet their neighbors and congratulate them onsurviving. Once on the last night of the last month, Nian suddenly burst into a small village, devouring almost all the people who lived there. Only two families emerged unscathed. The first, a newlywed couple, avoided harm because their celebratory red wedding clothes resembled fire to the monster, so it did not dare to approach them. The other family was unharmed because their children were playing outside setting off noisy firecrackers, and the noise scared the monster away. Ever since, people have worn red clothes, set off firecrackers, and put up red decorations on New Year's Eve to keep the vicious monster Nian away. Later, according to the legend, the Emperor Star deity struck Nian down with a flaming orb and bound him to a stone column. Only then was there peace in the world. Ever since, people stay up all night and burn incense on New Year's Eve, entreating the Emperor Star to descend to earth and protect them.Every year on New Year's Eve, people paste up images of the Door God on their doors. The Door God, or guardian of the threshold, is a very old deity. In its earliest incarnation, it was embodied in the door itself. The Door God was first portrayed in human form during the Han Dynasty, first as the warrior Cheng Qing, and later as Jing Ke. The door gods of the Northern and Southern Dynasties were named Shen Tu and Yu Lei. During the Tang Dynasty, two great generals named Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde were in charge of protecting the officials of the imperial palace. Emperor Tang Taizong (Li Shimin) felt that the generals were working too hard, so he ordered their portraits to be painted and hung beside the palace door to assist them. The two generals thus became associated with the ancient guardians of the threshold, and have been known as door gods ever since. During the Five Dynasties Period, Zhong Kui became the new door god. The Song Dynasty saw the further development of existing guardians and protectors. In addition to door gods, images of the gods of Blessings, Prosperity, and Longevity, as well as the Ten Thousand Deities and the Three-Treasures Buddha, are often hung in living rooms and bedrooms. These guardian deities were thought to protect the household from evil influences and repe l New Year pictures, as their name implies, are made especially to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday. With the coming of Spring Festival, these pictures appear in households throughout the nation, their bold outlines and vibrant colors adding to the excitement of the holiday season. New Year's pictures are an ancient Chinese folk art, reflecting the simple and thrifty customs and beliefs of the common people, and embodying their hopes for the future.The character "福" fu means happiness and good fortune. It is as oftenused as a decoration during Spring Festival, expressing the hope for goodfortune and a bright future in the coming year.New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, trace their origins to China's ancient door gods. After a certain point, however, these pictures were no longer limited to depicting the various protective deities, and became increasingly rich and colorful. Among the common subjects of New Year pictures are "A Surplus Every Year," "Peace Year After Year," "Blessings from Heaven," "An Abundance of Grain," "Flourishing Livestock," and "Spring Comes with Good Fortune."Papercuts made from lucky red paper are often pasted in windows and on doors to celebrate Spring Festival. Papercutting is an extremely popular Chinese folk art. Papercuts usually draw their subject matter from legend, opera, and the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Bold and expressive, they depict a range of lucky themes and beautiful dreams, adding color and verve to the celebratory spirit of Spring Festival.The character "福" fu means happiness and good fortune. It is as often used as a decoration during Spring Festival, expressing the hope for good fortune and a bright future in the coming year. In order to emphasize the significance of this character, it is often pasted on the door upside down. This is meant to cause visitors to remark, "Your fu is upside down," which is an exact homonym for the auspicious phrase, "good fortune has arrived."In addition to door gods, Spring Festival couplets, New Year pictures, and papercuts, many families also paste up special decorations known as menjian on Lunar New Year's Eve for good luck. Made out of red or colored paper, these decorations consist of papercuts plus auspicious sayings, with a fringed bottom. Today, instead of the traditional menjian, many people put up "Chinese knots," a type of decoration made out of red cord tied into lucky designs.Making sacrifices to the ancestors is one of the most important folk customs of Spring Festival. Traditionally, households prepared for New Year's Eve by bringing theirfamily's genealogical records, ancestral portraits, and memorial tablets to the ancestral hall, where the altar was prepared with incense and offerings. In some regions, offerings were prepared for the deities of Heaven and Earth as well as for the ancestors. In other areas, obeisance was made to the Jade Emperor (the highest deity in the folk pantheon), and the Queen Mother of the West (wife of the Jade Emperor). The offerings, known as "offerings to Heaven and Earth," consisted of mutton, five types of cooked dishes, five colors of snacks, five bowls of rice, two date cakes, and a large steamed wheat-flour bun. The rite was conducted by the head of the household. After burning three bundles of incense and bowing to the ancestors, prayers were offered for a fruitful harvest in the coming year. Finally, paper images of money were burned, the smoke carrying the household's prayers and salutations to Heaven. These Spring Festival rituals were a way of wishing the ancestors and deities a Happy New Year.It was considered imperative to honor the ancestors during Spring Festival, both to remember previous generations and to ensure the continuation of the family line. However, regional differences produced widely differing traditions. In some places, the ancestors were honored before the New Year's Eve feast, while in others the ceremony was conducted at midnight on New Year's Eve. In yet other places offerings were made to the ancestors on New Year's morning, right before opening the door of the family courtyard. In Taiwan, the year's final offering to the ancestors was made in the afternoon of New Year's Day. In some regions, offerings were made to the ancestors at home on New Year's Day, after which the household would travel to the ancestral temple for further ceremonies. In some places, it was customary to conduct the ceremony at the ancestral graveyard, burning incense, making offerings, and bowing to the ancestors. Today, people usually pay their annual respects at the graves of their departed loved ones.On New Year's Eve, the house is brightly lit as the whole family stays up all night to see out the old year and see in the new. People do more than just sit around as they wait for the arrival of the new year. There is plenty to eat and drink, including wine, cooked dishes, New Year's cake, boiled dumplings, fruit, and assorted snacks, and all kinds of games are played. Since it's nighttime, most of the games are played indoors. Popular games include Go, Chinese chess, card games, and mahjong. Before it gets dark, children ride bamboo horses, spin tops, and play games like "Eagle Catches Chicken" and "Blind Man's Bluff". As midnight approaches, the parents prepare the family altar. They then light incense and make offerings to the ancestors and auspicious deities, bringing the New Year's festivities to their peak. After the ceremony is over, everyone exchanges New Year's greetings and eats boiled dumplings. It is also traditional to set off fireworks and firecrackers on New Year's Eve. As it gets closer and closer to midnight, nonstop explosions fills the air and the sky is filled with a sparkling display.Since the 1980s, it has become extremely popular to watch the annual "Spring Festival Variety Show" on television on New Year's Eve.New Year´s First MealAfter the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, or Chuxi in Chinese, it is the New Year! The menu for the first meal of the New Year is not a thorny problem for us Chinese. In northern China, dumplings are always the main dish on the dining table, while, in southern China, there is a wide variety of choices in difference provinces.As one of the most important aspects of the Spring Festival, food is essential to a healthy, happy new year in Chinese tradition, and many dishes are imbued with auspicious and symbolic meanings either because of the appearance or the pronunciation of its Chinese name.In Northern China, people usually eat jiaozi (dumplings), which first appeared in China some 1,600 years ago. The Chinese pronunciation of jiaozi means "midnight" or "the end and the beginning of time". Its crescent shape resembles that of ancient gold and silver ingots or a crescent moon which symbolizes the hope for a plentiful year. Sometimes, people stuff jiaozi with sugar for a "sweet" life, and others put one or two coins inside -- if you happen to come across a coin-stuffed jiaozi, you will have good luck.But southerners like to eat nian gao, or "New Year Cake" -- a sweet sticky brown cake made of rice flour and sugar. In Chinese, gao is a homonym for "high", and nian is "year". Nian gao is a homonym for "higher each year" and symbolizes improvement in life year by year. Their sweetness symbolizes a rich sweet life. Finally, the round shape signifies family reunion.A symbolic food for the Lantern Festival is small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour and filled with sweet stuffing. It is called yuan xiao or tang yuan. Round in shape, they symbolize family unity, completeness and happiness.Other dim sums like noodles and spring rolls. Noodles stand for a long, happy life; an old superstition says that it's bad luck to cut them. Spring rolls symbolize wealth, because their shape is similar to gold bars.Fish also plays a large role in festive celebrations. The Chinese word for fish, "yu", sounds like the words for wealth, abundance and happiness. As a result, on New Year's Eve it is customary to serve a fish at the end of the dinner, symbolizing surplus and prosperity in the coming year. The fish is served whole, with head and tail attached, symbolizing a good beginning and ending for the coming year.Chicken is another main dish during the festival. The Chinese pronunciation for chicken, "ji", is similar to the Chinese word for "good luck". People may have roasted chicken or steamed chicken with different spices, however, it should be served whole, symbolizing family togetherness.The other stewed meat can be pork, mutton or beef, symbolizing wealth and strength. People also eat different vegetables and tofu which will bring harmony and prosperity. Pickles are also popular because people want to keep balance inside their bodies. Too much meat always makes trouble to your stomach; while pickles and vegetables help you avoid sickness.Tangerines and oranges are the "lucky" fruits and the best presents during the Spring Festival season as the words for tangerines and oranges sound like luck and wealth. And let's not forget pomelos. This large ancestor of the grapefruit signifies abundance, as the Chinese word for pomelo sounds like the word for "to have".Starting the New Year with a bangWaves of people are flooding both sides of iconic Victoria Harbor on the second day of the year of the horse. The Lunar New Year Fireworks Display in Hong Kong is an annual event to celebrate the Chinese New Year. It is also the world’s largest lighting and music show.Traditionally, fireworks were set off to ward off evil spirits, with their loud bangs and bright lights. Now, they’ve become a reason fo r friends and family to gather along the waterfront and celebrate.。