学进去

The Chinese kite is a symbol of the Chinese handicraft （手工艺品）. Flying a kite is a very popular activity in China. In spring, large numbers of people gather in the squares or parks and fly beautiful kites there.

A philosopher （哲学家） called Mozi was said to be the inventor of the Chinese kite. His invention had the bird's name of "Yuan", a kind of bird of the hawk （鹰） family with a long tail. He made the kite out of wood. Later, his student Lu Ban improved it and made the kite out of bamboo.

With the development of papermaking, paper was introduced into the kite-making. The kite got the name "Zhi Yuan", as "Zhi" in Chinese means paper. And during the Five Dynasties period, people tied the bamboo whistle （哨子） to the kite. When the kite was flying, the airflow （气流）could make the whistle sound like Guzheng playing. So the kite carried the name "Fengzheng".

From then on, making and playing the kite became very popular in Weifang, Shandong Province. Every year in spring, when the weather became warm, almost every family went out to fly the kite and have a picnic on sunny and windy days. It was an exciting folk activity and a good time to display various beautiful kites. At the same time, they also enjoyed the warm weather and fresh air. The tradition has been well kept until today and has become the world﹣ famous Weifang International Kite Festival, which is held from 20th to 25th in April every year.

Flying a kite in spring does people much good. For example, it is a good way to reduce the backache （背痛）. Besides, when people fly a kite, it can help them forget their stressful （压力重的） situations and reconnect （再连接） them to nature.