郑和是一位伟大的中国探险家和舰队指挥官。他主要进行了七次探险活动，为中国皇
帝探索世界，并在新的区域建立与中国的贸易联系。永乐帝(Emperor Yongle)想向世界其他[国家展示中华帝国(the Chinese Empire)的荣耀与权力，同时还想与世界其他国家建立贸易联系。于是他任命郑和为首席特使(Chief Envoy)，命他成立一个舰队去探索世界。郑和指挥了一个大型舰队，第一次航海时估计有超过200艘船，将近28000人。
5. The arts flourished during the Tang Dynasty. Poetry became an integral part of the Chinese culture. Learning poetry was a must for those who wanted to pass the imperial examination. Some of the great poets in Chinese history lived in this time, such as Li Bai, Du Fu, and Wang Wei. While the Tang Dynasty is worldwide famous for its poetry, other art forms also became very popular during this period. Many forms of literature took shape, including short stories and history novels. Painting was also very popular and many famous painters arose in this era.
唐朝（the Tang Dynasty）时期，艺术盛行，诗歌成为中国文化；诗歌成为中国文化不
可分割的一部分。学习诗歌对于那些想通过科举考试(the imperial examination)的人来说是一门必修课。中国历史上，．一些著名的诗人就生活在这个时期，像李白、杜甫和王维。虽然唐朝诗歌闻名于世，其他的艺术在该时期也非常流行。许多文学形式包括短篇故事和历史小说都在该时期成型。同样，绘画也很流行，这个时期诞生了一些著名的画家。
6. Du Fu, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, is crowned as Poet Sage by later generations. Du Fu was a patriot. Under the constant influence of Confucianism, he hated and tended to criticize the corrupt imperial court and the dark side of the social life. In the meantime, he had great compassion for the general public, and was willing to make self-sacrifice to rescue people from their tribulation. Du Fu had a profound friendship with Li Bai, another great poet in the Tang Dynasty. Though their poetic styles were different, they admired each other for their respective talent and personality. Therefore, they are jointly named Li Du by later generations.
杜甫，唐代著名诗人，被后人称为“诗圣(Poet Sage)”。杜甫是一位爱国者。在儒家思想(Confucianism)持续的熏陶下，他憎恨并偏重于批判朝廷的腐败和社会生活的阴暗面。同时，他十分同情老百姓，愿意作出自我牺牲将人们从苦难中拯救出来。杜甫和另一位唐代伟大的诗人李白有着深厚的友谊。尽管他们的诗歌风格不同，但他们十分欣赏对方的天赋和性格。因此，他们被后人合称为“李杜”。
7. The Yellow River is the cradle of the Chinese nation. She has fostered generations of Chinese but she has also brought troubles with her floods. The diligent Chinese people have been struggling to control the water of the river for generations. Da Yu was a famous expert on water regulation in China more than 4,000 Years ago. Da Yu inherited the experience from his father, who once controlled the floods, and after plenty of investigations and researches, he found the cause of the floods. Da Yu worked very hard. He had been working on controlling he floods for 13 years constantly. During this period he did not go back bis home, even stopping by without going into his house for 3 times.
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黄河(the Yellow River)是中华民族的摇篮。她孕育了一代又一代的中国人，但她的洪水也给人们带来了灾难。勤劳的中国人民世代都在努力治理黄河水。大禹是4000多年前中国著名的治水家。大禹继承了他父亲曾经治水的经验，经过量的调查和研究，发现了引发洪水的原因。大禹工作很努力。他致力于治水13年。在这段时间里，他没有回过家，甚至三过家门而不入。
8. In ancient times, writing works and inscriptions were generally written on tablets of bamboo or on pieces of silk. But silk being costly and bamboo heavy, they were both not convenient to use. Then Cai Lun initiated the method of making paper with the bark of trees. Traditionally, he is regarded as the inventor of paper and the technique of papermaking. Although early forms of paper had already existed in China since the 2nd century BC, he fostered the first significant improvement and standardization of papermaking by adding essential new materials into paper’s composition. Cai found the composition of paper and invented the technique of papermaking. Cai was reputed for this invention in the world, and even in his own lifetime he was already given recognition for it.
在古代，著作和铭文( inscription)通常写在竹片或丝绸上。但丝绸昂贵，竹太重，使用起来都不方便。后来蔡伦开创了用树皮造纸的方法。传统上人们认为他是纸张和造纸术的发明者。尽管公元前2世纪中国就已经有了早期的纸，但蔡伦促成了纸张的首次重大改进，并通过添加至关重要的新材料使造纸过程标准化。蔡伦发现了造纸材料的组合方式，发明了造纸术，这项发明使蔡伦闻名于世，甚趸使他在有生之年就已经得到了认可。
9. With the defeat of the other six warring kingdoms, Qin Shi Huang unified the northern China. The king of Qin became the First Emperor of Qin in China. As emperor, Qin Shi Huang reorganized the bureaucracy, abolishing the existing nobility and replacing nobles with officials appointed by him. He also built a network of roads, with the capital of Xianyang at the hub. In addition, the emperor simplified the written Chinese script, standardized weights and measures, and minted new copper coins. In his reign for 35 years, he managed to create magnificent and
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enormous construction projects. He also brought incredible cultural and intellectual growth, as well as a lot of disasters to China.
秦始皇灭六国( Six-warring kingdoms)之后，统—了中国北方。秦国国王成为中国的秦始皇帝。作为皇帝，秦始皇重组了官僚机构( bureaucracy)，废除了既有的贵族，并以他任命的官员取代。他还建立以都城咸阳为中心的道路网。此外，秦始皇还简化汉字的写法，统一度量衡(weights and measures)，铸造了新的铜币。在35年的统治中，他建造了宏伟庞大的建筑工程，也带来了难以置信的文化和知识的增长，同时也给中国带来了许多灾难。
10. The Silk Road is one of the greatest and most important trade routes. It is the overland route that connects China and Europe, the East and the West. The Silk Road began in the 2nd century BC when Han Emperor gave Zhang Qian the diplomatic missions of visiting the Western regions. The Silk Road was largely scattered and very few merchants ever crossed the whole route. Most of the areas along the road were rugged or with hostile forces, which made the route quite dangerous. Therefore, the supply of silk and other goods was often limited.
丝绸之路（the Silk Road）是世界上最伟大、最重要的贸易通路之一。它是连接中国和欧洲、东方和西方的陆路通道。丝绸之路始于公元前2世纪，汉高祖(Han Emperor)派遣张骞出使西域的时期。丝绸之路极其分散，很少有商人走过整个道路。大部分地区地形崎岖或有敌对势力存在，使得丝绸之路非常危险，因此丝绸和其他商品的供应经常受到限制。
11. The temple fair is a social activity in the Chinese folk. It is usually held in a temple or in the open place near the temple during festivals or some specified
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days. Some temple fairs are only held during the Spring Festival. Although temple fairs in different places are held in different time, their basic contents are similar. During the time of temple fairs, farmers and traders come from all directions, taking with their own agricultural products for transactions. Folk artists set up the stages for performing singing, dancing, story telling, etc. Ordinary people happily come to watch performances and buy snacks or other interesting goods.
庙会(the temple fair)是中国民间的一种社会活动，通常在节日或某些特定的日子，在寺庙里或寺庙附近的空旷之处举办。有的则只在春节期间举办。尽管在不同的地力，举办的庙会时间不同，但其基本内容相似。在庙会期间，来自四面八方的农民和商人都带着自己的农产品来进行交易。民间艺术家搭起舞台，表演唱歌、跳舞、讲故事等。老百姓高高兴兴地来观看表演，买小吃或其他有趣的物品，-
12. On the Tomb-sweeping Festival, people go to sweep the graves or burial grounds of their ancestors. Traditionally, they took a rooster with them to the graves. However, as the time goes by, the event has been less formal now. There are many different customs on the Tomb-sweeping Festival, among which the main ones are tomb sweeping and spring outing. It is a day not only for people to commemorate the dead, but also to enjoy leisure and entertainment time.
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Spring outings not simply increase enjoyment of life, but encourage people to have a healthy body and mind. The festival is really a combination of sadness and happiness.
清明节(the Tomb-sweeping Festival)时，人们会去自家祖先的坟墓或葬地扫墓。传统上，
人们去时会带一整只公鸡。但随着时间的推移，扫墓现在已经不再那么正式，清明节有多种不同的习俗，其中最主要的是扫墓和春游（spring outing）。这一天不仅是人们纪念亡人的节日，也是休闲娱乐的日子。春游不只增添生活乐趣，还可以鼓励人们拥有健康的身体和思想。这个节日真可谓是悲伤和幸福的组合体。
13. On the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, people celebrate the Double Ninth Festival. Nine is a yang number ( a traditional Chinese spiritual concept) in The Book of Changes, so Double Ninth is called Chongyang. Climbing the mountains is one of the most popular traditions on that day. In September the sky is high and the air is fresh. And climbing the mountains is helpful to keep physical fitness. The tradition of eating double-ninth cakes is associated with climbing the mountains. As a kind of festival foods, the double-ninth cake was first used to celebrate the autumn harvest. Later, it developed into the custom of climbing the mountains and eating double ninth cakes, which means that our life will become better and better. Because double
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