1、一. 长城（The Great Wall） The Great Wall is one of the wonders of the world that created by human beings! If you come to China without climbing the Great Wall, its just like going Paris without visiting the Eiffel Tower; or going to Egypt without visiting the Pyramids! Men often say, He who doest not re
2、ach the Great Wall is not a true man.In fact, it began as independent walls for different states when it was first built, and did not become the Great Wall until the Qin Dynasty. However, the wall we see today, starting from Shanhaiguan Pass in the east to Jiayunguan Pass in the west, was mostly bui
3、lt during the Ming Dynasty. 长城是人类创造的世界奇迹之一。如果你到了中国却没去过长城，就想到了巴黎没有去看看菲尔铁塔，或者就像到了埃 及没有去看金字塔一样。人们常说：“不到长城非好汉。”实际上，长城最初只是一些断断续续的城墙，直到秦朝统一 中国后才将其连城长城。然而，今天我们看到的长城东起山海关，西至嘉峪关大部分都是在明代修建的。 二. 饺子（Dumplings） Dumplings are one of the Chinese peoples favorite traditional dishes. According to an ancient Chinese
4、legend, dumplings were first made by the medical saint-Zhang Zhongjing. There are three steps involved in making dumplings: 1) make dumpling wrappers out of dumpling flour; 2) prepare the dumpling stuffing; 3) make dumplings and boil them. With thin and elastic dough skin, fresh and tender stuffing,
5、 delicious taste, and unique shapes, dumplings are worth eating hundreds of times. Theres an old saying that claims, “Nothing could be more delicious than dumplings”. During the Spring Festival and other holidays, or when treating relatives and friends, Chinese people like to follow the auspicious c
6、ustom of eating dumplings. To Chinese people who show high reverence for family love, having dumplings at the moment the old year is replaced by the new is an essential part of bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new year. 饺子是深受中国人民喜爱的传统食品。 相传为古代医圣张仲景发明。饺子的制作是包括： 1） 擀皮、2） 备馅、3） 包 馅水煮三个步骤
7、。其特点是皮薄馅嫩，味道鲜美，形状独特，百食不厌。民间有“好吃不过饺子”的俗语。中国人接亲 待客、逢年过节都有包饺子吃的习俗，寓意吉利。对崇尚亲情的中国人来说，“更岁交子”吃饺子，更是欢度除夕、辞 旧迎新必不可少的内容。 三. 筷子（Chinese Chopsticks） The Chinese way of eating with chopsticks is unique in the world. The recorded history of chopsticks started more than three thousand years ago. Chopsticks were na
8、med zhu in ancient Chinese. They look deceptively simple to use, but possess multi-various functions, such as clamping, turning over, lifting up, raking, stirring, scooping, poking, tearing, and so on. Chopsticks were taken as an auspicious mascot by ordinary people in ancient China. For example, th
9、e partial tone of chopsticks is often used by people as a metaphor at weddings to indicate a blessing or benediction for the couple to have a baby soon. Unlike using a knife and fork or ones own hands, a pair of chopsticks also implies the meaning of “Harmony is what matters”. Chopsticks are highly
10、praised by Westerners as a hallmark of ancient oriental civilization. 中国人使用筷子就餐的方式在世界上独树一帜。有史记载用筷的历史已有三千多年。筷子古时称为箸，它看似简单，但 却同时具有夹、拨、挑、扒、拌、撮、戳、撕等多种功能。中国民间视筷子为吉祥之物，如婚俗中将筷子隐喻为快生贵 子的祝福等。与使用刀叉以及手抓的方式不同，成双结对的筷子含有“和为贵“的意蕴。西方人赞誉筷子是古老的东 方文明。 四.中国功夫（Chinese kung fu） Chinesekungfu,orChinesemartialarts,carriest
11、raditionalChinesecultureinabundance.Itis atraditional Chinese sport which applies the art of attack and defence in combat and the motions engaged with a series of skill and tricks. The core idea of Chinese king fu is derived from the Confucian theory of both “the mean and harmony” and “cultivating q
12、i” (otherwise known as nourishing ones spirit). Meanwhile, it also includes thoughts of Taoism and Buddhism. Chinese kung fu has a long history, with multi-various sects and many different boxing styles, and emphasizes coupling hardness with softness and internal and external training. It contains t
13、he ancient great thinkers pondering of life and the universe. The skills in wielding the 18 kinds of weapons named by the later generations mainly involve the skills of bare-handed boxing, such as shadow boxing (Taijiquan), form and will boxing (Xingyiquan), eight trigram palm (Baguazhang), and the
14、skills of kung fu weaponry, such as the skill of using swords, spears, two-edged swords and halberds, axes, tomahawks, kooks, prongs and so on. 中国功夫即中国武术，是将技击寓于搏斗和套路运动之中的中国传统体育项目，承载着丰富的中国民族传统文化。其核 心思想是儒家的中和养气之说，同时兼容了道家、释家的思想。中国武术源远流长、流派林立、拳种繁多，讲究刚柔并 济、内外兼修，蕴含着先哲们对生命和宇宙的参悟。后世所称十八般武艺，主要指：徒手拳艺，如太极拳、形意拳
15、、八 卦掌等；器械功夫，如刀枪剑戟、斧钺钩叉等。 五.汉字（Chinese characters） Chinese characters were initially meant to be simple pictures used to help people remember things. After a long period of development, it finally became a unique character system that embodies phonetic sound, image, idea, and rhyme at the same time.
16、The writing system, which was extremely advanced in ancient times, began with inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells, and these are regarded as the original forms of Chinese characters. Afterwards, Chinese characters went through numerous calligraphic styles: bronze inscriptions, official script,
17、 regular script, cursive script, running script, etc. Chinese characters are usually round outside and square inside, which is rooted in ancient Chinese beliefs of an orbicular sky and a rectangular Earth. The five basic strokes of Chinese characters are “-“ (the horizontal stroke) “” (the vertical
18、stroke),“”( the left-falling stroke),“”(the right-falling stroke), and“乙”(the turning stroke). 汉字是从原始人用以记事的简单图画，经过不断演变发展最终成为一种兼具音、形、意韵的独特文字。现存中国古代最 早成熟的文字是甲骨文，被认为是现代汉字的初形。此后，汉字又经历了金文、隶书、楷书、草书、行书等不同的阶段。 汉字结构“外圆内方“，源于古人”天圆地方“的观念。汉字有五种基本笔画，即：横、竖、撇、捺、折。 六. 秧歌舞（Yangko） Yangko is one of tradition folk dan
19、ce of Han in China.It is usually performed in northern provinces. The dancers usually wear colorful and light costumes, and the performance is powerful and rapid. During some festivals such as Spring Festival, Lantein Festival, if people hear the sound of drum and gong, no matter how cold the weathe
20、r is , they will come to street and appreciate the Yangko. Recent years, the old people in city of east-northern of China organized the team of Yangko by themselves, the teamers keep their health by dancing Yangko the whole year. 秧歌舞是中国汉族的一种民间传统舞蹈，通常在北方省份表演。秧歌舞者通常穿上明亮多彩的表演服装，他们的表演动 作有力迅速。在农历春节、元宵节等节
21、日期间，人们一旦听到锣鼓声，不管外面天气有多冷，他们都会蜂拥到街上看秧 歌舞表演。近年来，中国东北某些城市的老年人自发组织了了秧歌队，队员常年通过跳秧歌舞来保持健康，同事他们也 乐在其中。 七. 针灸（Acupuncture） Acupuncture is an important part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In accordance with the “main and collateral channels” theory in TCM, the purpose of acupuncture is to dredge the c
22、hannel and regulate qi and blood, so as to keep the bodys yin and yang balanced and achieve reconciliation between the internal organs. It features in traditional Chinese medicine that “internal diseases are to be treated with external therapy”. The main therapy of acupuncture involves using needles
23、 to pierce certain acupoints of the patient s body, or adopting moxibustion to stimulate the patients acupoints so as to stimulate the channels and relieve pain. With its unique advantages, acupuncture has been handed down generation after generation and has now spread all over the world. Nowadays,
24、acupuncture, along with Chinese food, kung fu (otherwise known as Chinese martial arts), and traditional Chinese medicine, has been internationally hailed as one of the “four new national treasures.” 针灸是中医学的重要组成部分。按照中医的经络理论，针灸疗法主要是通过疏通经络、调和气血，来达到阴阳归于平衡， 使脏腑趋于调和之目的。其特点是“内病外治”。主要疗法是用针刺入病人身体的一定穴位，或用艾火的
25、温热刺激烧灼 病人的穴位，以达到刺激经络。治疗病痛的目的。针灸以其独特的优势，流传至今并传播到了世界，与中餐、功夫、中 药一起被海外誉为中国的“新四大国粹”。 八. 中国龙（Chinese Dragon） Dragon totem worship in China has been around for the last 8,000 years. The ancients in China considered the dragon (or loong) a fetish that combines animals including the fish, snake, horse and ox
26、 with cloud, thunder, lightning and other natural celestial phenomena. The Chinese dragon was formed in accordance with the multicultural fusion process of the Chinese nation. To the Chinese, the dragon signifies innovation and cohesion. 对龙图腾他的崇拜在中国大约已绵延了八千多年。中国龙是古人将鱼、蛇、马、牛等动物与云雾、雷电等自然天象集合 而成的一种神物。中
27、国龙的形成与中华民族的多元融合过程同步。在中国人的心目中，龙具有振奋腾飞、开拓变化的 寓意和团结凝聚的精神。 九. 中国印章（Chinese Seal） A seal can also be defined as a stamp. Both the Chinese official and private seal of various dynasties have different titles, such as stamp, zhu note, contract, fu, lease and others. The seals used by the emperors of ancien
28、t China were called xi, yin, bao, etc. According to historical records, seals were widely used during the Warring States Period (475BC-221BC). The making of a seal is to engrave fonts, such as seal characters and official script and so on; or images in the form of intaglio and embossment into the se
29、al, basically shaped as round or square. Covered with a vermilion overlay, the Chinese seal is not only used in daily life, but it is also used to represent signatures on paintings and calligraphies. It is gradually becoming one of Chinas unique artworks. 印章就是图章。中国历代官、私所用的印章有印信、朱记、合同、符、契等等不同的称谓，而帝王所
30、用的印章古时称玺、 印、宝、章等。据史料记载，印章在战国时代已普遍使用。印章的制作是将篆隶等字体、图像用阴、阳的形式雕刻而成， 形状以圆、方为主。印章用朱色钤盖，除日常应用外，又多用于书画题识，逐渐成为中国特有的艺术形式之一。 十.京剧（Chinese Beijing Opera） Praised as “Oriental Opera”, Beijing Opera is a genuine national quintessence of China. It originated from many kinds of ancient local operas, especially huib
31、an in southern China. At the end of the 19th Century, Beijing Opera evolved and took shape, becoming the greatest kind of opera in China. Beijing Opera is a blend of performing arts-song, speech, performance, acrobatix fighting and dance. Beijing Opera portrays and narrates the plot and characters t
32、hrough stylized acting. The main types of roles in Beijing Opera are sheng(male), dan (young female), jing (painted face, male), and chou( clown, male or female). 京剧被誉为“东方歌剧”，是地道的中国国粹。它起源于中国多种古老的地方戏剧，特别是南方的“徽班”。到了 19 世纪末，京剧形成并成为中国最大的戏曲剧种。京剧是综合性表演艺术，集唱（歌唱）、念（念白）、做（表演）、打 （武）、舞（舞蹈）为一体，通过程式化的表演手段，叙述故事，刻
33、画人物。角色主要分生（男性）、旦（女性）、净 （男性）、丑（男性女性皆有）四大行当。 十一.中国成语（Chinese Idioms） Chinese idioms refer to comprehensive and integrated fixed phrases and expressions. Idioms are established and accepted by constant usage and common practice. An idiom is a language unit that is larger than a word, but has the same g
34、rammatical function as a word. Most Chinese idioms consist of four characters. For example, ziqiangbuxi ( make unremitting efforts to improve oneself), qingchuyulan(bluer than indigo), and houjibofa (success comes with time and effort). Idioms are extrated from folk proverbs, ancient works of litera
35、ture, poems, fables, allusions, and well-known sayings. Idioms are a part of the Chinese language that are concise and have great vitality. 中国成语是汉语中意义完整的表示一般概念的固定词组或短语。“成语”中的“成”既是约定俗成。成语是比词大而语 法功能又相当于词的语言单位。绝大多数的中国成语由四个汉字组成，例如：自强不息、青出于蓝、厚积薄发。成语主 要从民间谚语、古代文学作品、诗歌、寓言、典故、名言警句等方面提炼而成，是汉语语言中精炼而又富有生命力的一 部
36、分。 十二. 丝绸（Silk） China is the home of silk. Mulberry planting, sericulture, silk reeling and thickening are all great inventions of the ancient Chinese. As early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties (1600BC-256BC), the Chinese peoples silk-weaving techniques had reached an extremely high level. During the
37、 Western Han Dynasty (206BC-25AD), Zhang Qian, an outstanding diplomat, travelled around central Asia and connected China with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean, opening up a new era of Sino-foreign trade, exchange and communication. From then on, Chinas silk became well known for its extraordi
38、nary quality, exquisite design and color, and abundant culture connotations. Hitherto, Chinese silk has been accepted as a symbol of Chinese culture and the emissary of oriental civilization. 中国是丝绸的故乡。栽桑、养蚕、缫丝、织绸是中国古代人民的伟大发明。商周时期丝绸的生产技术就已发展到相当高 的水平。西汉时张骞通西域，把中原与波斯湾、地中海紧密联系起来，开辟了中外交流贸易的新纪元。从此中国的丝绸 以其
39、卓越的品质、精美的花色和丰富的文化内涵闻名于世，成为中国文化的象征。东方文明的使者。 十 三 .中 国 园 林 （ Chinese Classical Garden） The Chinese classical garden is a precious treasure of our ancient Chinese architecture. It is a kind of environment art, which systematically combines artificial mountains and rivers, plants and buildings with the n
40、atural landscape. The construction standard of a Chinese classical garden is “artificial as it is, the garden must look ingenious and natural.” When you go sightseeing in a Chinese classical garden, you should be able to appreciate its artistic concept which “makes use of the natural landscape to cr
41、eate the real fun of mountains and rivers for viewers.” Of the worlds three major garden systems, the Chinese classical garden is hailed as one of the origins of the world s garden due to its longhistory and abundant connotations. 中国园林是把人造的山水、植物、建筑等与自然地貌有机结合的环境艺术，是我国古代建筑艺术的珍宝。其建造原则是 “妙极自然，宛自天开”。游赏中国
42、古典园林，能充分领略“假自然之景，创山水真趣”的园林意境。在世界三大园林 体系中，中国园林历史悠久、内涵丰富，被誉为世界造园史上的渊源之一。 十 四 .文 房 四 宝 （ The Four Treasures of the Study） The writing brush, ink stick, ink stone, and paper were requisite treasures in the study of the scholars of ancient China, and they are often referred to as the “Four Treasures of t
43、he Study.” The writing brush and ink stick have been used by the Chinese to write and paint since 5,000 years ago. In the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC), people already used feathers of different hardness and bamboo trunks to make brushes. During the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), man-made ink was used inste
44、ad of natural ink. After paper was invented by the Chinese, bamboo slips, wooden tablets, brocade and silk, which originally functioned as writing surfaces, gradually faded out. The ink stone was first developed with the use of writing brushes and ink. After the Song Dynasty (960AD-1279AD), the “Fou
45、r Treasure of the Study” particularly referred to hubi, the writing brush produced in Huzhou, Zhejiang province; huimo, the ink stick produced in Huizhou, Anhui province; xuanpaper, a kind of paper produced in Xuanzhou, Anhui province; and duanyan, the ink stone made in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province
46、(Zhaoqing was earlier called Duanzhou). Indeed, the Four Treasures of the Study” have writtin the whole Chinese civilization, as it is. 笔墨纸砚是中国古代文人书房当中必备的宝贝，被称为“文房四宝”。用笔墨书写绘画在中国可追溯到五千年前。秦时 已用不同硬度的毛和竹管制笔；汉代以人工制墨替代了天然墨；有了纸张以后，简牍锦帛逐失其用；砚台则随笔墨的使 用而发展。“文房四宝”到宋朝以后特指湖笔、徽墨、宣纸、端砚。可以说文房四宝书写了整个中华文明。 十五. 中国印章（C
47、hinese Seal） A seal can also be defined as a stamp. Both the Chinese official and private seal of various dynasties have different titles, such as stamp, zhu note, contract, fu, lease and others. The seals used by the emperors of ancient China were called xi, yin, bao, etc. According to historical r
48、ecords, seals were widely used during the Warring States Period (475BC-221BC). The making of a seal is to engrave fonts, such as seal characters and official script and so on; or images in the form of intaglio and embossment into the seal, basically shaped as round or square. Covered with a vermilio
49、n overlay, the Chinese seal is not only used in daily life, but it is also used to represent signatures on paintings and calligraphies. It is gradually becoming one of Chinas unique artworks. 印章就是图章。中国历代官、私所用的印章有印信、朱记、合同、符、契等等不同的称谓，而帝王所用的印章古时称玺、 印、宝、章等。据史料记载，印章在战国时代已普遍使用。印章的制作是将篆隶等字体、图像用阴、阳的形式雕刻而成，
50、形状以圆、方为主。印章用朱色钤盖，除日常应用外，又多用于书画题识，逐渐成为中国特有的艺术形式之一。 十六. 天干地支（Chinese Era） The Chinese era is the symbol that the Chinese calendar uses for recording and naming years. The ten Heavenly Stems are: jia, yi, bing, ding, wu, ji, geng, xin, ren, gui. The twelve Earthly Branches are: zi.chou, yin, mou, chen,
