Children's games in ancient China | |
Flying kites | Kites have quite a long history. The earliest kites were made of wood. Now in China, the three most famous kites are the Beijing kite, Tianjin kite and Weifang kite, each of which has its own characteristic (特征). |
Playing diabolo | Diabolo is always made of wood or bamboo and is hollow (空心的) in the center. When juggled (抛接) on ropes, the high-speed rotating (旋转的) diabolo will make a sound. Playing diabolo is a very interesting game. |
Watching shadow plays | The closest thing to watch a film or television during ancient times was watching a shadow play. People control puppets (木偶) behind the screen while singing with music to tell a story. Shadow play was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产) in 2006. |
Setting off firecracker | Firecrackers have a history of more than 2,000 years. It is said that people burnt bamboo joints (节) to make it blast (爆炸) to drive away the beast named Nian in ancient China. Firecrackers are still set off during Spring Festival to symbolize hope and luck. |
