Giving gifts is a tradition as old as mankind itself. It has always been a part of our society.

When you give a gift to someone, it tells them that they are special to you. We give and receive gifts for many occasions (场合), like birthdays, Mother’s Day, etc. In fact, gift-giving is so necessary to our world that many countries developed interesting traditions around it. Here are some of the most interesting ones.

Japan

When giving a gift in Japan, you should be very careful. It is not good to surprise them, as they will be embarrassed if they cannot immediately return something to the gift giver. The gift is usually given in private, and it is not common to open it immediately.

South Korea

In South Korea, it’s very rude to give or receive a gift using only one hand, especially if it is the left hand. You must always use both hands. Korean New Year’s greeting cards or gifts are never with a mainly red color, as it is used for announcing funerals (宣告葬礼). Also, don’t give gifts that come in sets of four as they stand for death there.

India

When giving a gift in India, you should always use your right hand. Using the left hand is impolite as that hand is considered unclean. If giving money in India, try to give a sum (金额) that ends with 1. Odd numbers (奇数) are seen as very lucky in India. The number 1 is especially lucky as it means a new beginning.

Russia

In Russia, you should never give someone yellow flowers as yellow is the symbol of ending a relationship or betrayal (背叛). As COVID-19 has changed our life greatly, many gift givers choose to send gifts online instead of sending gifts in person.

There are many steps in making a bottle of water and through the process many natural resources are used. Transportation also uses petrol（汽油）and releases（释放）a lot of CO₂ into the air, which makes air pollution.

First, the oil is taken out from the earth. Then the oil is cleaned at the refinery（炼油厂）. At a plastic factory the oil is made into plastic pellets（塑料颗粒）and then bottle preforms（粗加工的成品）.

Preforms are heated and shaped into bottles. The bottles are brought to the bottling factory where they are filled with water. The bottles are ready and they are transported to the stores.

Bottles of water are sold and brought to thousands of families. Most of the plastic bottles are thrown away and end up in landfills（垃圾填埋场）or in the environment.

The plastic bottles need 400 to 1000 years to break down. Some are recycled and brought to a factory that turns them into other plastic items（物品）. Finally, those items are thrown away and end up in the landfill.

You may know the English letters A, B and C, but do you know there are people called “AВC”? You may like eating bananas, but do you know there are people called “banana people”? If you don’t know, I will tell you about them. They are some Chinese people like you and me, but they aren’t in China. Why do people call them like that?

If we call someone an “ABC”, it means that he or she is a Chinese person but was born in America. Sometimes people also call them “banana people”. A banana is yellow outside and white inside. So if someone is a “banana person”, he or she is “white” inside and “yellow” outside. By saying that, we mean he or she has yellow skin (皮肤) but does things in an American way. “Banana people” are born in America and they live in America for a long time, so they think like Americans and do things like Americans. However, these people still have Chinese blood (血统). Their parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents are from China. They all have black eyes and black hair, so they look like us Chinese people.

There are many famous “banana people” in America. They do very well in America and they are really great in their own fields.