As an international city, Shanghai sees several music festivals held in the city every year. From jazz to rock, there is something amazing for everyone to enjoy.

Kwanzaa is a celebration of African American history and culture. It begins on December 26th and continues until New Year’s Day, January 1st.

During the festival, a family member, usually the youngest child, lights candles in a special candleholder（烛台）. Each night a candle is lit. Traditionally there are three green candles, three red candles and a central black candle. They represent the seven Kwanzaa principles(原则). The principles are believed to play a big role in building strong, successful families, neighborhoods, etc. In the evenings, adults share stories and explain how to follow the seven principles in daily life. On the sixth day, which falls on New Year’s Eve, family and friends get together to enjoy a large meal.

Kyle, a third grader, wrote this about Kwanzaa. “When we celebrate Kwanzaa, we have many people at home, light the candles, and have a nice dinner. We learn the meaning of Kwanzaa and remember family members. We say something good about them. Last year, we remembered my grandmother.”

In1966, Dr. Karenga created Kwanzaa. He was studying the history of Africa at that time. Dr. Karenga wanted to create a holiday to bring African Americans together and celebrate their history and culture. He called the holiday “Kwanzaa”. In fact, the name comes from an African language, and it means “first fruits of the harvest(收获季节)”.

Did you watch the grand National Day celebration on TV on Oct. 1 this year? There were many student performers (表演者). What would it feel like to be part of such a great event? Three teenagers shared their stories with us.

Zhou Jingqi, 14, Beijing

I was in one of the 36 formations (方阵). We were wearing yellow T-shirts, holding flowers and flags in our hands. I shouted loudly “Long live our motherland”. It may not seem hard to walk in a formation. But we started training (训练) as early as July. We had four group training sessions in Changping, Beijing. We learned to walk at a certain pace-walking 116 meters every 90 seconds.

On October 1, we waited at Dongdan at 2 a.m. But I didn’t feel sleepy that day. Instead, I was full of joy and pride. I’ll never forget seeing the aircraft flying above my head and making the shape of a “70”!

Ma Conglin and Ma Congyuan, 15, Beijing

We are twin brothers. We sang in a choir (合唱团). Our choir performed 16 songs, including My Motherland and Me and On the Hopeful Field. We practiced hard over the summer. Sometimes we had to stand and sing for a whole day. We canceled (取消) our family vacation because we needed to practice.

On the night of performance, we were surprised by the strong sound of people singing together. Our hard work paid off and it was such a great honor to be there!