How do you spend your free time? Playing sports or seeing movies? Do you want to live a different after-school life? How about learning Chinese traditional culture (传统文化)?

Li Chenxi, an 11-year-old girl, is at No. 2 Primary School in Yinchuan. Her school brings Chinese traditional culture into the after-school care services. She is interested in tie-dye (扎染). She can make dolls and dresses after learning for more than a year. “In the past, I had too much homework to do. But now I can do what I want to do in my free time,” she said.

Antoine was from Rwanda. He knew nothing about the dragon dance. 当他第一次看到它时, 他很吃惊。He could not wait to join in it. But the training was difficult for him. He kept practicing day by day to do the jumps and turns and lift the dragon body high in the air. In 2015, Antoine built (建立) the first international student dragon dance team in his school. Now the team has about 100 students from different countries.

It is on Saturday afternoon. A group of children of all ages are following Zhu Wei in Zimbabwe. Zhu, a Chinese doctor, teaches them tai chi. These children like tai chi. They think tai chi helps them keep healthy and focus on (专注) studies. It’s mind-body exercise.

Chloe from Canada is a paper-cutting lover. Every Sunday, she learns paper-cutting from Mrs. Smith. The girl can easily cut animals, flowers and so on. Last weekend , Chloe made a paper-cutting work of Bing Dwen Dwen. She felt excited to see it shown on the school wall.

What is a diplomat (外交官) like in your eyes? Is he good at English? Is he a talented person, skilled in both arts and sports? Must he be smart with a pair of glasses? If the answers are “yes”, Yang Jiechi may be the perfect diplomat.

As the first Chinese foreign minister (部长) born (生于) after 1949, Yang met many difficulties. He was accepted into the Shanghai Foreign Language School, but later he had to work in a factory. Other workers in the factory chatted and played cards together in their free time, while Yang didn’t give up English learning. He studied English independently by reading English magazines and reading articles aloud after work. His hard work paid off and he was chosen into the Foreign Ministry (外交部) in 1973.

Soon after he became the youngest Chinese ambassador (大使) to the US in Jan. 2001, a serious accident happened. In April that year, a US spy (间谍) plane crashed with a Chinese plane, killing the Chinese pilot and having a must-landing in Hainan. The two sides fought over whether the US should say sorry first or China should give back the US pilot. During an interview with CNN, Yang compared China’s situation to a family. One day one of the family members comes out to check but is killed in a crash. “I think the family has every right to ask why and find out what happened,” he said.

Yang’s reasonable talk touched many Americans. 30 percent of American people changed their minds to believe the US government should say sorry.

“He is willing to look from the other person’s side, which is important in communication and dealing with difficulties,” said Shirley Young, one of Yang’s American friends.

Firefighting (消防) is an important job to keep people safe and help stop fires from damaging（毁坏）too much property（财产）.

There are many important parts to be a firefighter. First of all, firefighters have to be strong enough to do their work, so they need to have physical training, such as carrying heavy objects, going up many stairs (楼梯), and working for a long time. Firefighters also have to know the latest skills in fighting fires, so they need to go through regular training to keep themselves and others safe. Anyway, the most important part of being a firefighter is to work as a team. They have to work together to stop fires!

Firefighting is very stressful. Firefighters never know when a fire or other emergency (紧急情况) is going to happen, so they have to be ready at all times. 3 Even in the middle of the night, firefighters have to be able to wake up quickly when the alarm (警报) goes off.

Firefighters don’t just fight house fires. They also help people who are in accidents. For example, they use their special tools to help get people out of the cars if they’re stuck (卡住). In some places, firefighters also have to be prepared to help people who are sick or injured (受伤的). These firefighters might be trained as nursing staff.   

4 Firefighters are always there to help us whenever there’s an emergency. Firefighting is not easy, but if you like helping people, it might be a good job for you!