Chinese New Year is a 【小题1】 (celebrate) marking the end of the winter season and the beginning of spring. This is why decorating the house with plants, fruits and flowers 【小题2】 (carry) special significance. They represent the earth 【小题3】 (come) back to life and best wishes for new beginnings.

These are some of the most popular in many parts of the country:

Oranges: Orange trees are more 【小题4】 decoration; they are a symbol of good fortune and wealth. They are regarded as great gifts and you see them quite often 【小题5】 (decorate) with red envelopes and messages of good fortune.

Bamboo: Chinese love their “Lucky Bamboo” plants and you will see them often in their homes and office. 【小题6】 (certain) during the holiday period, this plant is 【小题7】 must. Bamboo plants are related 【小题8】 health, abundance and a happy home. They are easy 【小题9】 (care) for and make great presents.

Branches of Plum Blossoms (梅花): The 【小题10】 (beauty) long branches covered with pink-colored buds make fantastic decorations. The plum trees are the first to flower even as the snow is melting . They represent the promise of spring and a renewal of life.

It seems that Chinese people have always loved to discuss 【小题1】 differences between northerners and southerners. Now, another difference has drawn wide attention: the way northerners and southerners shop 【小题2】 food at markets.

People from southern China normally buy what they need for just one or two meals at a time. It’s normal for【小题3】to buy just half a Chinese cabbage, two 【小题4】 (potato) and 25 grams of beef at a time. 【小题5】, a person may be laughed at 【小题6】 they do this in the north. Instead, buying enough vegetables and meat for a week 【小题7】 (be) normal.

The difference could be because of the different climates. Food can 【小题8】(keep) for a long time in the north, as it’s 【小题9】 (usual) cold and dry there. Many northerners have the habit of 【小题10】 (store) food for a long time. But due to the hot and wet weather in the south, southern Chinese people prefer to buy just enough food for one meal or one day. Otherwise, the food may go bad.

Maybe these debates about different customs help us to understand each other better.

Chinese Medicine Food

Medicine food is a unique cooking style in Chinese cuisine (菜肴). It is a perfect 【小题1】 (combine) of Chinese cooking and traditional Chinese medicine to get the effects of health keeping. It is a skillful application of the yin and yang theory 【小题2】 (strengthen) the function of food and herbs (草药).

The Chinese sort (分类) each type of vegetable and meat in terms of yin and yang, and combine vegetables with meat, 【小题3】 will make each cooked dish balanced.

During the 5th century BC, cooks created cuisines with medical values and developed Chinese art of cooking, 【小题4】 (use)the nature of food to balance the diet. There were rules on how to arrange daily diet and lists of certain herbs and vegetables beneficial 【小题5】 the body.

By the Song dynasty, 【小题6】 was recorded that many diseases could be cured through proper diet. Different foods were sorted according to their original nature. Cold foods were believed to remove fever, 【小题7】 warm foods reduce running noses.

Knowing the nature of individual foods 【小题8】 (enable)the Chinese to eat right food to protect 【小题9】 (variety)of inside organs and balance the yin and yang of the body. For example, sour food eases some disorders. 【小题10】 (slight)sweet food relieves illness related to the veins (静脉) and bitter food helps to cure an overheated body.