Tangchang, a town in Chengdu, is well-known for cloth shoes. With over20 types, Tangchang cloth shoes are strong, comfortable, breathable and friendly to the environment. In 2018, they were added to Sichuan's intangible cultural heritage list (非物质文化遗产名录).
63-year-old Lai Shufang has spent over 40 years making Tangchang cloth shoes. Now she is a master. She said there are 32 steps to make a pair, but the most important step is making the soles.
Layers (层)of white cloth are glued together with flour paste (糨糊). "To make good paste, we make it at a temperature of 85℃. If it's too low or too high, the paste will not work, "Lai said. Then the pasted layers are dried and cut into different shapes. After this, the layered cloth is beaten again and again until it is tight (紧实的)enough to make soles and upper parts. The next step is to shape the two parts and glue them together. But still the soles' edges look fluffy. Through repeated polishing and trimming, the fluffy edges (毛边) will become smooth. Then the cloth shoes are ready.
Lai's hard work touched her son Ai Peng. In 2015, Ai decided to leave his job and help his mother. He used Shu embroidery to make the shoes look more beautiful and opened a cloth shoe store online. He also set up shop windows to show the steps of making shoes, helping more people learn about the art of cloth shoes.
① beating the layered cloth
②making flour paste at an exact temperature
③gluing the upper pars and the soles together
If you're riding in a "lift" or an "elevator", or eating "chips" versus "fries", these words all depend on whether you're in the UK or US. Although the, both speak English, there are many phrases and idioms that differ between the cultures.
For example, have you ever just not been in the mood to go out with friends? In the US you might say you don't feel like doing that activity, but in the UK you would say, "I can't be asked."
Maybe you're about to take a test and feel a little anxious. In the US, you might say you are nervous, but in the UK, one could say they are "having kittens". If someone in the UK were feeling they were under pressure, they might say they are '"under the cosh".
Even many native English speakers are often confused by the meanings of these terms. Stephanie Stone, a US native, recalls her experience studying in the UK. "People would ask, 'You all right?' For months I thought I looked unwell until I realized it just meant 'How's it going? ".
If you want to know more about US and UK idioms, you'd better "have a butcher's hook" at some phrase books. It can be quite interesting to find, the equivalent (对应的) phrases in your own language.
Each different part of China has its own special forms of traditional art. These usually try to show the things that are important in life, such as love, happiness, beauty and family. The most common things, from paper to clay to bamboo, are turned into objects of beauty. Here is some information about some of Chinese traditional arts.
|
Name |
Paper cutting | Sky Lantern | Clay art | kite | |
| Inventor Time | Unknown | Zhuge Kongming | Unknown | Lu Ban | |
| Appearing Time | 1,500 years ago | 226 AD | 4, 000 yearn ago | 2,000 years ago | |
| Material | Paper | Paper, bamboo | Clay, paper or cotton | Paper, bamboo | |
| Main use | Ancient Times | Remembering ancestors | Asking for help | Being with the dead | Sending information |
| Today | Praying | Praying | Decorating | Playing | |
| Complexity（制作难易度） | Harder | Hard | Hardest | Harder | |
How do we know the time? A clock, a watch or a mobile phone can help us. However, many years ago there were no clocks and knowing the time was not so easy. Over the centuries people have developed different ways of telling the time.
About 5,500 years ago, the Egyptians invented the sun clock. This was a tall stone building. Its shadow (影子) showed the movement of the sun. So people were able to know midday. The Egyptians made a sundial about 3,500 years ago. It was smaller than the sun clock and could let people know the time for half a day. On cloudy days or at night it was impossible to tell the time with a sun clock or a sundial. Water clocks were the first clocks not to use the sun. The idea is simple. Water flows (流动) from one bottle to another. When the water reaches a certain level, it shows the hours. The Egyptians used water clocks about 3, 400 years ago. These clocks were popular in the Middle East and China. But they failed to make people know the exact time.
In the 13th century, the mechanical clock was invented. This was more exact, but it was expensive to make one. Over the next few centuries it was developed. For example, springs (发条) were added around 1500. This enabled people to get the correct time and allowed clocks to be smaller. In 1927, the first quartz clock was developed. Clocks became cheaper to build. It's also cheaper for ordinary people to own a clock. People began depending on them more and more to run businesses, markets and so on. More recently, in 1956, came the digital clock. And nowadays satellites send our mobile phones the time to the exact second.
There has been a lot of progress in timekeeping. Clocks are always changing but some things never change. Many of us still have trouble getting out of bed on time and not being late for school or work.
(①=paragraph 1 ②= paragraph 2,…)
B . 
C . 
D . 
|
Happy Rain on a Spring Night Good rain knows its time right; O'er wild lanes dark cloud spreads; It will fall when comes spring. In boat a lantern looms. With wind it steals in night; Dawn sees saturated reds; Mute, it moistens each thing. The town's heavy with blooms. ——Translated by Xu Yuanchong |
This famous poem, with four couplets, was written by Du Fu (712-770, Tang Dynasty) when he was living and farming in Chengdu. His farming experience taught him to be thankful to nature.
The very first word, "good", shows the poet's joy and love for the spring rain. The rain is good because it "knows" the proper time to come. Here the poet uses personification, as if the rain were smart enough to come in time for the farmer's busy season.
When the rain comes, it appears during the night without making any noise. Unlike the summer storms, the spring rain finishes its task without being known.
In the third couplet, the poet describes a peaceful scene to us. In the night sky, the clouds look dark and heavy. It's a sign that there will be enough rain during the night. The light from the riverboat makes the dark scene a bit livelier.
Lastly, the poet starts to imagine. Tomorrow morning, he thinks, the city of Chengdu will be-come beautiful when all of the flowers bloom (盛开) after the rain.
