In Beijing Winter Olympics, the most popular design（设计）with kids and teenagers is Bing DwenDwen, a panda in an ice shell （壳）. It looks like an astronaut in a space suit（太空服）. It’s a perfect design which puts winter sports and modern technology together.

Bing Dwen Dwen puts up its left hand to say, “Hello!” It has two red hearts on its hands, showing kindness and love. The colorful lines around its head look like the tracks（赛道）. They refer to（指代）Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval, known as the “Ice Ribbon” （冰丝带）, they also refer to 5 G technology.

According to the designer Cao Xue, Bing Dwen Dwen was chosen from 5816 designs around the world. The idea first came from the traditional Chinese snack（小吃）, bingtanghulu. However, a simple snack can’t stand for a country by itself. Cao’s team then tried many plants and animals, finally going with a panda. “What can better stand for China than our national treasure?” said Cao. They once made three designs, and Cao asked his 9-year-old son to choose his favorite, “After his first glance, he chose Bing Dwen Dwen without thinking twice.” Cao said.

Now Bing DwenDwen has been made into many kinds of toys and plastic models. It is printed on notebooks, bags and so on. It brings lots of joy to the world.

As our national opera, Peking Opera has a history of over 200 years. Even though it is called Peking Opera, its music and singing came from Anhui and Hubei. Some of the stories are from history books, but many of them are from famous novels. The people in the stories usually can’t agree with each other. They became angry, unhappy, sad and lonely. Sometimes they are frightened and worried. Then they find a way to make peace with each other. Everyone is usually happy in the end.

Peking Opera is an important part of Chinese culture. In the past, it was popular with old people while young people didn’t like it. But now, more and more young people are becoming interested in it. At the same time, more people around the world are learning about Peking Opera.

There are four main roles in Peking Opera Sheng—male, Dan—female, Jing—painted face and Chou—male clown (小丑).

On February 4th, 2022, the opening day of 24th Beijing Winter Olympic Games, solar terms appear in opening ceremony. It was this year’s “Lichun,” or the beginning of spring, the first of the 24 solar terms of the traditional lunar Chinese calendar.

The solar terms which were born in China several thousand years ago represent the 24 periods in the Chinese lunar calendar that show the changes in nature and climate. The ancient Chinese developed the 24 solar terms to guide agricultural (农业) production. They show Chinese people’s hope to achieve harmony (和谐) with nature.

In 2006, the 24 solar terms were listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产) in China, and they were added to the UNESCO’s (联合国教科文组织) intangible cultural heritage list ten years later. After the 24 solar terms achieved recognition from UNESCO, a new organization which spreads the cultural heritage of the 24 sola terms was set up.

“We want to spread and protect traditional culture as well as develop it in a creative way, through our efforts together,” said the leader of the organization. Some experts did more research, gave speech and wrote books. Some groups in the organization organized some shows and competitions. Wei Wei, the winner of the second prize of a competition, produced a long painting describing some customs related to each term.

“When creating this painting, I realized that 24 solar terms affected people’s lives. For example, in many places, people have the custom of celebrating the beginning of winter. When winter comes, agricultural activities end, so people wear new clothes to greet each other. It means many folk customs are closely related to agricultural activities,” says Wei.

Neixiang County, Henan Province, has a history of giving a performance of beating the spring cows to celebrate the beginning of spring. Farmers do their work by according to the 24 solar terms.