Did you watch the closing ceremony(典礼) of the Beijing Winter Games? Which part moved you most?
Many people would say the “willow twig(柳枝)”. To the song Songbie, 365 people carried glowing willow twigs in their hands. This showed “a bittersweet goodbye” in a traditional and special Chinese way. In Chinese, the word for willow, “liu”, sounds like the word for “stay”. So in the old days, when two friends parted(离别), the travelling friend got a willow twig as a present. It is not “goodbye” but “see you again soon”.
Many other traditional Chinese things were also parts of the Winter Games. There were 12 animal carts(手推车) in the closing ceremony. This idea came from the Chinese zodiac(十二生肖). And on Feb 4, the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games was held. The day was also Lichun, the first of the 24 Chinese solar terms. It shows the awakening of everything and the end of the cold.
1．In Chinese, the word for willow, “liu”, sounds like the word for “go”.| |  |  |  |  |
| My father | | √ | | |
| My grandma | | | √ | |
| My sister | | | | √ |
| My mother | √ | | | |
搜索
