leila

       This year’s Dragon Boat Festival is on june 6th. It is a traditional festival of China and People have three days of holiday for the Dragon Boat Festival. A lot of activities will be hold and it is a great time for families and friends to spend all day together. 

        The day officially  falling on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the Dragon Boat Festival is also known as Double Fifth Day. While many stories regarding its origin abound, the most popular and widely accepted version regards Qu Yuan, a minister during the Warring States Period (475 - 221 BC)

Legend of the Dragon Boat Festival’s OriginAt the end of the Zhou Dynasty, the area we now know as China had fallen into a state of fragmentation and conflict. While the Zhou dynasty had ruled for several centuries, several other states, originally feudal domains, tried to carve out their own kingdoms. The state of Qin would eventually emerge the victor and unify all of China under one rule for the first time in history.

Qu Yuan served as minister to the Zhou Emperor. A wise and articulate man, he was loved by the common people. He did much to fight against the rampant corruption that plagued the court– thereby earning the envy and fear of other officials. Therefore, when he urged the emperor to avoid conflict with the Qin Kingdom, the officials pressured the Emperor to have him removed from service. In exile, he traveled, taught and wrote for several years. Hearing that the Zhou had been defeated by the Qin, he fell into despair and threw himself into the Milou River. His last poem reads:

Dragon Boat 

The most important activity is the dragon boat races. Competing teams drive their colorful dragon boats forward to the rhythm of beating drums. These exciting races were inspired by the villager’s valiant attempts to rescue Chu Yuan from the Mi Lo river. This tradition has remained unbroken for centuries
Tzung Tzu / Rice dumpling

A very popular dish during the Dragon Boat festival is tzung tzu. This tasty dish consists of rice dumplings with meat, peanut, egg yolk, or other fillings wrapped in bamboo leaves. The tradition of tzung tzu is meant to remind us of the village fishermen scattering rice across the water of the Mi Low river  the water of the Mi Low river in order to appease the river dragons so that they would not devour Chu Yuan.

     Since the devestating earthquake jolted Sichuan province onMay，12th， I have been keeping on  searching   news about the situation of quake-hit areas. During this period of time, I feel very sad, anxious, and worried. It is quite difficult for me to just sit in my dormitory and read the news as I am from MianYang, one of the hardest-hit areas.

    I think it is so fortunate for me as all my family members,relatives,and friends are safe. I got contact with my parents through telephone immediately after I knew the news, and they told me that they were fine. I just could not hold my tears, as I realized I may lost them.The earthquake caused great damages, The death toll  reached to 69,019  this Monday noon and thousands lost their homes. I saw pictures about people crying for the deaths of their beloved ones.I fell my heart is hurting and it is quite sad for me as I can do nothing to help except watching the news.

      For people who born after 1980s,catastrophe seems so far away.But I begin to realise how precious life is,how important family and friends are now. I also learned and thought a lot about others. Everyday I am touched by the stories of rescuing soldiers, normal people who helped to save lives and so many  countries and international organizations which have, by various means, offered their condolences and aid . I think they are really very professional and they are very great people who risk their own lives to save others.

   I hope my hometown will recover from this earth quake soon.  I believe people at there are very strong and pride people, we will conquer the difficulties and build a better home. I think I should cherish my time ,study harder as this is the best thing I can do.

  Hope everyone can become better and better!

   According to the Telegraph，after a number of world records shattered at the European championships and Australian Olympic trials last month, a firestorm of publicly expressed concern has ensued about the alleged buoyancy advantage provided by Speedo “LZR Racer” and TYR “Tracer Light” swimsuits. Arena, as a leading worldwide manufacturer of technologically advanced swimming equipment, has been asked by athletes, coaches, journalists and sports commentators to take a stand on this issue.

   Including Liam Tancock who set a world record in the 50m backstroke on Wednesday at the British swimming championships while wearing Speedo’s LZR Racer swimsuit., swimmers wearing it have sped to 22 of the 23 world records set Since the swimsuit was introduced in Februar. A coach who has worked with several Olympic gold medalists described the suit as “drugs on a hanger.”

For me I think Speedo really can be called” a super suit”. However I believe it definitely will not be abandoned.  As the fast development of science and technology we can not avoid the technology development of sports equipment. And a swimsuit may give a head but it will not generate champions, there are other factors such as training level and experience.

As the Olympic Games are approaching, some teams,swimmers,and coaches that  

 Strongly protest the use of speedo, declaring they will use Speedo. The coach of Italy team said:” we have to acclimatize to the new suit, as I do not want to confirm lose before competing .”

   Well, this is just a new generation of swimming suit, just like in 2004 and 2000. I think the swimmers will show their best performance, and the best one will win. Some times we have to accept things that we do not like, just as the time of competition change to the morning, what we can do is to accommodate and to reconcil.  .

Carlos Tevez scored on a diving header in the 70th minute, and Manchester United beat AS Roma 1-0 Wednesday night to reach the European Champions League semifinals. Carlos Tevez struck the winner, a wonderful flicked header, fully exploiting a fine cross from Owen Hargreaves, the man of the match for a display brimming with box-to-box energy. Victory not only confirmed United’s presence in the final four but also ensured that they broke the European record of 11 consecutive home wins, which they had shared with Juventus.

Though leaving Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo and Paul Scholes those who considered as the really top players in the world from the team, on the bench, Manchester did not have many troubles to win the match. Manchester United set up the dream semi-final with Barcelona while Liverpool plays Chelsea in the other semifinal. The three English clubs also were in the final four last year along with AC Milan, which won the title.  

I think it is hard to tell which team will win. The situation is like the last year in some way. This year the Barcelona will face the same situation as last year’s AC Milan as the only team that not from England to compete in the semifinal. The three English teams have the same problem as last year. The heavy team rotation each week they have to compete in three matches.However all the three teams are very positive as they believed the intensive competition will not cause them problems as they used to it. Otherwise Barcelona is not at ease too. Their way to reach the semifinal was not smooth. I hope this year the final will be more exciting to watch. Every year the final is quite boring, all the teams are very careful and put a lot of efforts in defensing as the title really counts.. Hope to see a beautiful, interesting and exciting match.

       The Olympic torch relay in San Francisco was concluded Wednesday afternoon, April 9, 2008, without major incidents. San Francisco is the sixth stop of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay outside the Chinese mainland.

     According to the New York Times: The nation’s only chance to see the Olympic flame up close became an elaborate game of hide-and-seek here on Wednesday, as city officials secretly re-routed the planned torch relay, swarmed its runners with blankets of security, and then quickly evacuated the torch to the airport under an heavily guarded motorcade.

   I think it is quite sad for people who can not watch the torch relay especially people come from far away and people who ethusiastic to see the torch relay. According to the San Francisco police this decision is made to assure the safety. Well, actually The relatively smooth run of the San Francisco relay stood in striking contrast with those in London and Paris where Tibetan separatists repeatedly disrupted the torch relay to the indignation of locals and Chinese communities. And thousands of people watched the relay safely.

   I am quite sad about their movement., Beijing has to a lot to prepare for the Olympic Games. I  consider their actions are very rude, and their words are not true as our Chinese people are very peaceful, we want a harmonius, integrated nation . Of course I also recognize the right of people to protest and express their views, but it should be non-violent. Their actions just ignore all the athletes and the people who expected so much from the run and undermine China-U.S. relationship as well as denigrate China’s image . The Olympics belongs to all, and the Olympic torch carries and passes around the Olympic spirit and advocates peace, friendship, harmony , cooperation and mutual understanding of the people all over the world. I believe that the Olympic flame, which belongs to all mankind, should never be extinguished. I am looking for a harmoney Olympic Games, and I believe there will be.

   David Beckham  got a yellow card in his 100th international game for England and was taken off in the 62nd minute of his team’s 1-0 loss at France. The LA Galaxy midfielder looked a little rusty at times but gave a typically hard-working performance at the Stade de France and was involved in much of England’s attacking play before being replaced by David Bentley in the 63rd minute.

         He is not the player that I like best, but it is no doubt that he s a excellent player.The 32-year-old, who made his England debut against Moldova in a World Cup qualifier in September 1996, became only the fifth English player to achieve a century of appearances for his country. As he has not had a full 90 minutes since last August, Beckham was not very good on the pitch actually he spent much of the game patrolling the halfway line, firing long, raking passes.

            Though Beckham did not do very well in his 100 cups. I think he still has chance to be the captain of England again. Undoubtedly his fans still crazy about him as they were Every eye in the stadium was on him from the moment he strolled out, and when he went off the field to be replaced by David Bentley, the whole crowd stood and loudly applauded as he trotted to a place on the bench.

          Romanian girls no longer dream of being Nadia Comaneci- that is the hard fact facing the country’s women’s gymnastics coach. Romania is a strong nation of gymnastics, and Romania’s women have won a team medal at every Olympics since 1976. However, it seems that they can not keep this record as several problems including： a change of generation, poor funding, the declining popularity of the sport and the emigration of coaches and physiotherapists have all hit gymnastics in the eastern European country.

        There have been many remarkable women athletes during the 19-year history of the Modern Olympic Movement, but few have had the global impact of a Romania young girl named Comaneci, her” perfect 1″ in the Montreal Olympics changed gymnastics, the Olympic games, and her life. Her is the idle of  Romania girls.

         However, now Romania girls do not want to follow Nadia’s step as low funding, the crisis towards coaches and so on. There is little time for them to prepare for the Beijing Olympics , but the coach still confidence about their winning.

   It seems that every Olympics has some obstacles，now this time Beijing is without exception. Some EU politicians recently threatened to boycott the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics in an attempt to press China on the Tibet issue, which was added to the agenda of EU foreign ministers’ meeting at the last minute.
      I was quite shocked and upset after I read this news. I do not know what happened to these people who call for against Beijing Olympic games. Do they know what the ideals of Olympism. It is emphasize opportunities for people to learn about connect with each others, these ideals are very important. It is the gala for all the people. I was upset also because some reports of western newspaper is not true. However, luckily The call for a boycott of the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics received chilly response..While the discussions were scheduled for Saturday, many EU foreign ministers voiced their opposition to politicize the Olympic Games on the first day of the meeting.
    I believe that the games will be a great success. For me I have been ready to cheer for the fascinating performance. This is the event for all the people and all the great athletes who have prepared for this moment so long! This is grand gala that bring we together from every parts of the world, isn’t it?