Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is a special day celebrated in many countries around the world. It is celebrated in English-speaking countries like the UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada. In France, the US and other countries, it is called Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. In countries like Spain, Italy and Brazil, Shrove Tuesday is held at the end of carnival (狂欢节).

Pancake Day is always on a Tuesday in February or March. On this day, many people eat pancakes: thin, flat cakes made in a pan. Another tradition in the UK is pancake racing. People run in a race with a pancake in a pan. As they run, they have to toss (抛扔) the pancake in the air and catch it in the pan several times. In some pancake races, people dress up in fancy clothes.

Pancakes are very easy to make. Try our recipe.

Ingredients: One cup of flour (面粉), some butter or oil, one cup of milk, lemon Juice, one large egg, some sugar and some salt.

Instructions: Fill one cup with flour and put into a bowl. Fill another cup with milk and pour into the bowl. Crack (打碎) the egg into the bowl and mix the flour, milk and egg until the mixture is smooth. Put a very small amount of butter or oil in a pan, and when it is hot, put some mixture in the pan and move the pan to make a thin pancake. After one minute, hold the pan carefully and throw or toss the pancake in the air to turn it over. Now cook the pancake on the other side.

When the pancake is ready, squeeze (挤) some lemon juice and put some sugar on it and eat it immediately. Mmm, delicious.

Tea culture is varied in different countries by the way tea is made and drunk, and by the places for tea drinking. How to make tea may be different. According to the ways of making tea, tea is classified (分类) into white tea, green tea, black tea, etc. And how to prepare tea may be different, too. In Tibet, tea is commonly boiled (煮) with salt and butter. People may drink tea at home or in public, for example, at teahouses.

As part of culture, tea has a relationship with history, health, education, communication and so on. It is commonly used at social activities. For example, drinking afternoon tea is a British custom. Families or friends can communicate with each other while having afternoon tea.

Tea has remained a way of daily life in China and drinking tea has a lot of advantages. It makes people less tired, clears heat in the human body and helps people lose weight.

Chinese people are good at using tea to make other things delicious. Tea, originally served as a kind of medicine in ancient times, is now not just a kind of drink, but also excellent seasoning (调味品). Here are two delicious dishes made with tea:

Tea Eggs: You can find them cooked and sold in street markets in almost every city in China.

Dragon Well Tea Shrimp (龙井虾仁): It’s one of the most well-known dishes in Hangzhou. Before you drink tea, please check the following tips:

▲Drink tea hot.

▲Drink tea between meals. It is bad for your stomach if you drink tea just before meals, during meals or soon after meals.

▲Do not drink too much strong tea.

In old Tibet (西藏), about 5 percent of the population owned almost all of the land, forests, mountains and rivers. Most people there were very poor. Thanks to the leadership of the Chinese government, Tibet is catching up with other parts of the country. Over the past 70 years, the Chinese government has introduced many good ideas for Tibet including education, health and environmental protection.

In 1951, Tibet’s GDP was 129 million yuan. Last year, its GDP reached 190 billion yuan. Since its peaceful liberation (解放), Tibet has set up a network of highways, railways and air ways. 118,800 km highways have been built in Tibet. It has also made great progress in improving its environment, spending 81.4 billion yuan on the area by the end of last year. In 2020, the forest covered 12.3 percent.

By the end of 2019, all poor people in Tibet had shaken off poverty (脱贫) for the first time in history. Before 1951, more than 90 percent of Tibetan people did not have their own houses. In 2020, the living space of farmers reached 41.46 square meters, and that of city people reached 33.4 square meters. People’s life has risen from 35.5 years in 1951 to 71.1 years in 2019. Education has also made great progress. In old Tibet there was not a proper school. 95 percent of the people could not go to school. From 1951 to 2020, the central government spent 224 billion yuan on Tiber’s education. Today’s Tibet has a really good development.