Lanterns have been part of Chinese culture for centuries and play an important part in many celebrations. 【小题1】

Palace lantern

It was mainly used in palaces in ancient times. When making palace lanterns, fine wood was used. 【小题2】 Different kinds of pictures were drawn on the covers. These lanterns were not only used as lights but also as decorations (装饰) in palaces.

Gauze (纱布) lantern

Less expensive bamboo and gauze were used to cover the lantern. Red gauze was used when making them. 【小题3】 So red lanterns are always hung on important festivals such as Lantern Festival, Spring Festival and National Day in parks or along main streets. In some famous China-towns abroad, you can see red lanterns all the year round. They have become a symbol of Chinese culture worldwide.

【小题4】

It was usually used for amusement. The shape was much like that of the palace lanterns. There were two layers (层) of covers and pictures were drawn on the inside layer. When the candle was lit, the heat caused a paper wheel inside the lantern to turn around, so that moving pictures appeared on the outside cover.

Now more kinds of lanterns appear in festivals besides the traditional ones. More modern technology is used on making lanterns. 【小题5】

In some American countries, like Canada and America, people usually tip（给小费）in some places. They tip in restaurants, airports, hotels, and hair salons（美发厅）because many people who work in these places get small money. A tip shows that a person is pleased with their work.

The usual tip for other kinds of service, for example, for taxi drivers, hairdressers（理发师）and waiters, is between 10% and 20% of the bill. The size of the tip is decided by how pleased you are for their work. People do not tip in cafeterias（小餐馆）or fast food restaurants.

At airports, workers who carry the bags for you usually get a dollar tip for each bag. Hotel workers usually get a dollar for carrying one or two suitcases（手提箱）. A hotel door attendant（服务生）or parking valet（停车场）also gets about a dollar for getting a taxi or for parking a car. Many people also tip hotel room attendants when they stay in a hotel for several days. They usually leave a dollar for each day.

The dragon is a great animal in Chinese culture. It brings the wind and rain. It is said that every year on the second day of the second lunar (阴历) month, the dragon wakes up from its winter sleep and raises its head. Because of this, the day is called “Dragon Heads-raising Day” (Longtaitou). This year, it falls on March 14th.

Old people believed that after Longtaitou, there would be more rain. And rain is very important to farming. So Longtaitou was the start of spring and farming.

People have many ways to celebrate the festival. The most popular one is to have a haircut. Mary people believe that a haircut during the first lunar month may bring bad luck to your uncles—mainly your mother’s brothers. They hope getting a haircut on Longtaitou keeps them away from bad luck.

Among Chinese people’s festival traditions, there is always a place for food. During the Longtaitou festival, people eat food named after dragons. Noodles are called dragon’s beard (longxu). Dumplings are dragon’s ears (long’er). And spring roll (春卷) are dragon’s skin (longlin).

People also hold activities like dragon dancing on the day. In some places in Shandong province, people make dragon lanterns (灯笼) too. Small reed (芦苇) boats go down the rivers and carry the lanterns, which stand for people’s best wishes and good luck.