The horse-face skirt, or mamianqun in Chinese, holds a very special position in China’s traditional clothing culture. This skirt can give us a taste of the beauty of ancient Chinese clothing.

In the General History of Chinese Clothing, the horse-face skirt is described as follows, “There are folds on both sides. The skirt door and back are decorated with patterns, and there is the skirt waist and lace (花边) upon it.”

The horse-face skirt first appeared in the Song Dynasty. It grew popular during the Ming Dynasty, from the royal family to common people. The horse-face skirt in the Ming Dynasty was simple in color and pattern. In the Qing Dynasty, the horse-face skirt gradually became elegant (精美的). The colors and patterns became more and more colorful, especially the outer skirt door. People added many good symbolic patterns to the outer skirt door, such as flowers, birds and butterflies.

Besides, this overlapping (重叠的) design leaves openings in the front and back of the skirt, making it very suitable for horse-riding.

In the eyes of experts and people in the fashion industry, the horse-face skirt is one of the representatives (代表) of traditional Chinese clothing. It is an important symbol of Chinese civilization. It has also influenced Western fashion for many years.

Round eyes, a round head, round ears and a round body! What is this little animal? He looks like a little bear. But he is not a bear. He’s a koala. Soft gray fur(毛) covers his little fat body. His eyes look like buttons(纽扣). He has small feet and big ears.

Where do koalas live? In Australia. The people of Australia take care of the koalas. They build places for them to live in. Here the little animals are safe. No one can kill them for their beautiful fur. There are many koalas in Australia. The people of Australia love them very much.

When a koala is born, he has no fur. And he is no bigger than your little toe(脚趾).

The mother koala has a pocket in the front of her body. The baby stays in this warm pocket. There he stays for six months.

When the little koala leaves the pocket, he has lots of fur. And he is about as big as your shoe. He climbs to his mother’s back. And she teaches him to find food.

It’s hard to believe that a beautiful silk dress comes from thousands of very little worms (蠕虫) called silkworms! It takes about 5,500 silkworms to make 2.2 pounds of silk. The process was invented by the Chinese about 5,000 years ago.

How is silk made? The process starts with silkworm eggs. The eggs are collected and kept warm. After a few days, silkworms come out of the eggs. They are fed leaves from mulberry trees (桑树) every 30 minutes, all night and all day. The room must be kept warm, without loud noises or bad smells. After a month, they start to make cocoons (茧). After four days, the cocoons are over.

The cocoons are heated (加热), and the silkworms are killed inside them. Then the cocoons are put into water to make the silk loose (松散的). The silk from three or four cocoons is put together and made into a thread (线). One cocoon can make a thread 1 kilometer long! Finally, the silk threads are made into cloth, and the cloth is used for things like dresses, scarves and neckties (领带).

Today, silk is produced in many countries, including India and Thailand, but more than 80 percent of the world’s silk comes from China. Every year, enough silk thread is produced to go from the earth to the sun 300 times. People love silk clothes because they are beautiful and comfortable—silk feels cool in warm weather and warm in cool weather. Now you know why silk is so expensive!