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In ancient China, when people were separating, they would pick a willow twig(柳条) and give it to the person who was leaving. This was to their wishes for him or her to stay. In Chinese, the for "willow" is pronounced the same as the word for "stay".
Many Chinese poets liked about willows in their works. One of the poems is A Farewell Song(《送元二使安西》)by Wang Wei. It reads,
No dust is raised on the road wet with morning rain.
The willows by the hotel look sofresh and green.
I invite you to drink a cup of wine again.
West of the Sunny Pass no more will be seen.
Nowadays, willow twigs can also be seen in modern art. There was an amazing performance about willow twigs,365 people willow twigs in their hands on the green stage. At the same time, a of weeping willows （垂柳） appeared on the LED screen.The setting of 365 people stood for 365 days, and the color green meant the return of spring. The performance was highly by the audience. "I was deeply attracted（吸引）by Chinese culture," one of them said.
In short, giving a willow twig to a person is not saying goodbye but asking him or her to .This is the beauty of Chinese culture.
