Christmas is still a few weeks away. But in Holland, Germany and other parts of central Europe, man dressed in red with a big white beard will already be flying from house to house with a big sack and presents for children. “Sinterklaas komt!” as Dutch children say-Saint Nicholas is coming!

It’s obvious from the name that “Santa Claus” comes from “Sinterklaas”. Saint Nicholas Day is celebrated on December 6, but there are many things about the saint and his festival that are similar to Christmas. Just as Santa has reindeer, so Sinterklaas has a white horse. Dutch and German children put their shoes out in front of the chimney just like children hang up their stockings on Christmas Eve, hoping that in the morning they will be full of presents. With Sinterklaas, however, you’re also expected to put a carrot in your shoe as a present to his horse.

Like Santa, Sinterklaas also judges whether children have been “naughty or nice” in the past year to help him decide whether they deserve presents. But while good children get sweets, the consequences of being bad are far worse than they are with Father Christmas. Naughty children are given a stick so their parents can beat them. If you are really, really bad, Sinterklaas will put you into a sack and take you away.

In parts of Germany and Austria, people also celebrate December 5, but it is a celebration of naughtiness rather than niceness. On “Krampus Day”, bizarre, horned demons (or rather boys dressed in costumes) run around causing havoc and hitting girls with sticks. Authorities have struggled for years to ban the tradition, but have not been successful. Luckily Saint Nicholas always comes next day to put things right.

Cold Dew, the 17th solar term of the year, begins this year on Oct 8 and ends on Oct. 23. At this time, temperatures are much lower in most areas of China, The dew is greater and colder and there will be less rain. Autumn crops will be ripe. 【小题1】

Foggy autumn

Temperatures drop significantly in October. The cold air encounters autumn rain. 【小题2】 When the humidity (湿度) is high, there will be foggy regions formed in many areas of China.

Season for fishing

People always say that fishing in shallow water in autumn does make sense. 【小题3】 Fish all swim to shallow water areas where the water temperature is relatively high.

Season for drinking chrysanthemum (菊花) wine

【小题4】 To prevent autumn dryness, many regions in China have the custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine. This is a tradition of the Double Ninth Festival, which often falls around Cold Dew. According to ancient records, drinking the wine made with chrysanthemums grants people long lasting youth.

【小题5】

During Cold Dew, North China takes on a look of late autumn with white clouds, red leaves and early frost. On the day of the Double Ninth Festival people often climb hills with comes, a kind of plant. This custom aims to dispel evils, and originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD25-220).

Our Chinese history has been the establishment of Teacher’s Day. In 1931, educators Tai Shuang-qiu and Cheng Qibao called on an establishment of teachers’ day to improve teachers’ treatment, protection and promotion of teachers training. They gave out Teachers’ Declaration and asked for the official agreement of teachers’ Day and they celebrated it by themselves for teachers in the Central University in Nanjing. Soon, the KMT government first agreed on June 6 for the teachers, and then teachers’ day changed to August 27 (birthday of Confucius).   

After 1949, the Central People’s government resumed June 6 for teachers. The Ministry of Education gave a circular that local education workers organize their celebration activities according to the actual situation.

In 1951 National Education trade unions, educators are recognized as part of the working class. On April 19, 1951, Minister of Education and the Chinese Education Union Chairman of the National Committee issued a written statement that May 1 International Labor Day was at the same time celebrated as teachers’ day. But this day lacks teachers’ profession and the results were not ideal. Especially after 1957, under the influence of the “extreme left”, teachers were ignored, so teachers’ day has actually ceased to exist.

September 10 was established for the teachers because freshmen at the beginning began honoring teachers and it is easy to create an atmosphere of teaching and learning. Meanwhile, September has no other national celebrations and it is easy to focus on activities and to promote formation of respecting teachers, respecting knowledge and talents as good social habits in the country.