You may have already forgotten the days when you had to learn how to use chopsticks. Every Chinese kids struggles with them for some time. But chopsticks are not just simple tools to pick up food. They come with their own special rules and traditions.

Generally, people should not make noise with chopsticks. Playing with chopsticks is seen as bad manners, just as playing with forks and knives in a Western country would be rude.

There are also some superstitions (迷信) related to chopsticks. For example, some people believe that chopsticks should be avoided being left standing upright in a bowl. It looks like the incense (香) that Chinese use to honor (祭奠) the dead. Doing it at the dinner table is believed to bring bad luck.

You should not tap chopsticks on the edge of the bowl either, as beggars do this to ask for food. Parents might get angry if children do this. Because they don’t want their children to be as poor as beggars in the future.

Apart from (除了) being tableware (餐具), chopsticks can also be a great gift. In Chinese, “chopsticks” are known as “kuaizi”, which means to have babies soon. Newlyweds (新婚夫妇) sometimes receive chopsticks as a wedding gift. Skilled craftsmen (手艺人) also paint beautiful images on chopsticks.

According to Chinese history, sky lanterns were first used by Zhuge Kong Ming. He sent them out to ask for help when in trouble. Today, sky lanterns are used at festivals and other celebrations. They are made of bamboo and covered with paper. When the lanterns are lit, they slowly rise into the air like small hot-air balloons for all to see. They are seen as bright symbols of happiness and good wishes.

Paper cutting has been around for over 1,500 years. Paper cutting sounds very easy but it can be difficult to do. The paper, usually red, is folded before it is cut with scissors. The most common pictures are flowers, fish, animals, and things about Chinese history. During the Spring Festival, they are put on windows, doors and walls as symbols of wishes for good luck and a happy new year.

A TV program has become popular in China recently. It has made people all over China become interested in writing Chinese characters (汉字).

The increasing use of computers and smart phones has left most young people hardly able to write by hand. Many of them are even unable to remember the 10,000 characters used in daily life without electronic help.

CCTV started the Chinese Character Dictation Competition to improve the population’s handwriting skills. Contestants (参与者) on the show were school pupils, but it was found that 70% of adults in the audience (观众) were unable to remember how to write the words “chan chu”.

Because computers allow people to type characters simply by entering pinyin, they don’t need to remember how to write them. “The keyboard age has had a big influence on the handwriting of Chinese characters.” Guan Zhengwen, who designed and directed the show said. He added that he hoped to encourage people to keep it alive as an art form.

Hao Mingjian, an editor of a magazine, putting his heart into Chinese characters, said, “Learning Chinese characters goes on throughout your life. If you stop using them for a long time, it is very likely that you will forget them.”