On Sundauy afternoon my friend and I went to the National Museum of China, located at the east side of Tiananmen Square. We visited one of the permanent exhibitions, Ancient China. According to the introduction from the website of National Museum of China: It uses a large number of valuable cultural relics, and gives a complete picture of the long Chinese history from the prehistoric times to the late Qing Dynasty and shows in a comprehensive way the vitality and continuous evolution of Chinese civilization. It also demonstrates the historical process of building a multi-ethnic country by Chinese people from different ethnic groups, their splendid political, economic, and cultural achievements, and their contributions to human civilization. We saw the most precious treasure of the museum: Houmuwu square cauldron (ding), which we have learnt from school textbooks. The cauldron was excavated in 1939 in Henan Province, and made by an emperor in Shang Dynasty to carry out rituals for his mother. It is a rectangular vessel, with the upper side of 112 cm long and 79.2 cm wide. There are animal faces and one-legged dragon designs on the four edges with a base design of clouds and thunder. Houmuwu Ding reveals a high level of casting technique and artistry, represents the highest casting achievement of the Shang Dynasty, and is the most valuable collection in the museum, just like Mona Lisa Smile in the Louvre. I have also seen a piece of exquisite painting copied from Dunhuang frescos, and it describes a story of magic deer, nine-color deer. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful mountain, where lived a deer, with nine-color fur and snow-white antlers. One day, it rescued a man who was going to be drown in the river. The man was very appreciated its help and would like to do everything for the deer. But the deer ask nothing but not to divulge its place. For the deer, keeping its secret was the best repayment. Then one day, the queen wanted the antlers of the magic deer due to her mysterious dream. Then the king post a big bonus to catch the nine-color deer. The man rescued by the deer got the information and thought that it was the best chance to get rich, totally forgetting his pledge to the deer. He told the king everything he knew. The king mobilized his troops immediately to the mysterious forest. At the very time the deer was sleeping in the warm and bright sunshine. Its friend crow flew to the deer, woke it up and told the whole story. The crow asked the deer to run away. But there was no time. The deer then told the king what it knew about the man, who was ungrateful and breached his vows. Then the king was so angry about the man and asked his solder to put him into prison. The king also forbidden to catch the deer in the future. Then the deer and its friends lived happy-ever-after-forever. After enjoying the ancient China exhibition, I feel so proud being a Chinese. Meanwhile, I also found that my knowledge of my own country is so limited that there are many traditional Chinese characters that I don't know and many books to read. I will try my best to learn the long history and splendor culture.

Last Saturday, I watched the recent blockbuster, La La Land, directed by Damien Chazelleand starred by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. The story happened in Los Angeles. Mia (Emma Stone) is a girl dreaming to be an actress, and would like to try every auction in order to act in a movie. But she is kept being refused in nearly six years. Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is obsessed with traditional jazz, and wishes to start a jazz pub, where only traditional jazz is played, and the musicians would play anything they want without asked by others. However, no one wants to listen to jazz but old people. Down and out as he is, he still refuses to play popular music in restaurants. As a result, the man is fired by a pub manager at Christmas, when the two persons with unrealistic dreams meet. They share their own dreams, enjoy old movies, dance with jazz, and encourage each other to hold on dreams. But the reality is cruel. To make a living, Sebastian joins a band, and has to go on world tours. The couple was less like each other than before. Mia blames Sebastian for not staying true with his original dream; while Sebastian insists what he does is good for their relationship. Then Mia stages a one-man act, which no one would like to see and someone even seriously criticized her performance. This becomes her last straw. She decides to abandon her actress dream, and goes back to the reality, as most people think. But Sebastian encourages her to continue, and finally she becomes one of the most popular actresses. And Sebastian also starts his jazz pub as he always wishes. They both make it, and their love does not, however. I am not fond of the ending, actually. But as my friend said, this kind of movie is always not perfect. But I do love the spirit of not giving up. Most people can insist with their dreams at first, and would like to work hard. Then you would find out that nothing is so easy, with failures coming and going, and people begin to mock your dreams. Even your family and friends starts to say, wake up and get real. Most people can’t bear these and choose to give up. In fact, I think this moment is often called the darkness before dawn. Just go ahead, and you may see the bright future. But 90% of us turn around at this point. That’s why success is so precious, and is also the crowning glory for people with the greatest determination. Besides, the romantic dancing in sunset also impressed many movie fans. USA today even invites the dancing director to teach you the steps of the tap dance, performed by the couple in the movie. Now we can also practice the steps and invite our partners to have a romantic dance, like the couple in the movie.

The scores for 2017 entrance exam for Master’s Degree were released yesterday, and unfortunately I failed the test. First I feel very bad. I worked a lot to prepare for this exam, after all. However, this is the reality that I must accept. Then I began to think about the reasons. I realized that I did not work hard enough. In the past year, I kept thinking that there were still much time, and told myself to take it easy. When I wanted to play games or watch movies, I hinted myself that watching these videos could be good for my study. I also overestimate my intelligence quotient, which is actually much lower. Day after day, I kept finding excuses. No pains, no gains. I did not pay enough efforts, so failure is also not a surprise. No one can easily get success, because nothing is deserved, and we must try to gain it. My friend told me I am great enough, for I was not a full time student, but an employee in a multi-national company. Preparing for the exam while you are still working is not an easy thing. I had to complete all tasks at daytime and study at night. Most of the time, I fell asleep with books still in my hands. Even on holidays, my colleagues kept calling me for business stuff. But still I can’t forgive myself. Going to college to finish my post graduate study majoring my favorite courses is always my dream, but I just can’t make it. Not because I don't have the ability, but I did not work hard enough. I could have worked harder, without watching movies, shopping, or hiking in the forests. And I should also have concentrated more on the books when studying, without daydreaming. But I did not. No matter how regretful, I have to face the reality. But a lesson should be learnt from this. “You have a dream, you got to protect it” no matter how much effort you have to pay.

Spring in Beijing is extremely beautiful, with trees turning green, flowers blossoming and swallows flying back from the south. I still remember the descriptions of spring in my primary school text book, “The spring breeze comes. Then the willows turn green, the peach flowers bloom and show their pink petals. Then the swallows come back from south and the frogs wake up from the hibernation. It is breezing softly and the drizzling quietly…” It was sunny last Saturday, without haze, which is a blessing in Beijing. I got up early and went to the Summer Palace to enjoy the spring. I chose a back path in the Longevity Hill, where people seldom pick, in order to avoid the crowd. All trees are turning green, Jasminum nudiflorums, prunuses, peach blossoms and wild clover blossoms are all showing their most beautiful faces. Walking on the path lined with prunuses and peach blossoms, listening birds’ twittering, smelling the fragrance of flowers, and bathed in the falling petals, the warm sun and the breeze, I felt like I was a goddess, and the world around me was my own heaven. I would like to be here for my entire life. Suddenly I realized that why so many people in ancient China preferred to live in seclusion in a back mountain, read books and planted flowers and trees. I took off my earphones, because the twitter and the ringing from some tower could dwarf any music. I took many pictures, but all digital devices are not powerful enough to record the beauty of the nature. I have been standing under the followers for a long time before going on with my little trip. Then I came to the West Dyke, whose design concept came from Su Causeway in West Lake, Hangzhou, Zhejing Province. The dyke looks like a ribbon crossing the Kunming Lake, with willows and peach followers on each side. At this time, willows are in the color of light green and waving their slim branches in the spring breeze, which is the most beautiful time. Willow is one of my favorite trees. I like it not only because of the attractive appearances, but also the culture moral. In ancient China, people would use willow branches to show their unwillingness to part with their friends or relatives, for the pronunciation for willow (liu, the third tone) is similar to that of “stay” (liu, the second tone). Some branches of the willows and followers are so low that they even deep into the lake water. And it seems that the water also wakes up in the spring. There are ripples as the wind comes, and they beat on the stones on the bank. The sound, together with the breeze and the tweeter, forms a kind of natural concert. I like to sit on the bank, closing my eyes, smelling the fragrance of followers and listening to the music from the nature, with my long hair waving with the wind. It is the most fantastic thing in the world. Now I can forget the endless work and get rid of the bad moods, and just enjoy the beauty of spring…

Recently, I am reading a book named as “Wolf Totem”. It was said that it is to be the first book describing the wolf in China. The story took place in grassland of Inner Mongolia, where people lead a primitive nomadic life. Mongolian people kill many wolves each year to protect their livestock, but meanwhile worship this wild animal, taking them as the god’s messengers. Their bodies would be eaten by wolves, instead of buried into earth. In this way, according to their legends, their sprits could be sent to the heaven. People here respect wolves also because this violent creature served as the grass’s guard. Wolves could eat rats, hunt Mongolian gazelle, and catch many other wild animals that might eat grass. Therefore, horses, cows and sheep that raised by humans could have enough grass to fight for the biting cold winter and the early spring. So wolves actually helped human beings indirectly and ensured the natural balance of the grassland. Due to these reasons, people kill wolves to control the number, but never kill all. Wolves would never disturb human beings as long as if they have enough food, for they deeply knew that human being was their only enemy on the grassland. So wolves and humans kept fighting and coexisting for thousands of years, protecting the scared land together. This balance was broken until the arrival of Han people (the largest people in China) in 1960s. Han was a farming nation, and didn’t understand the rule of the grassland. They tried to manage the grassland like the way in farming, which was doomed to be a failure. They coveted the gorgeous sceneries and wild animals, and wanted to please their leaders by hunting swans, transplanting beautiful wild flowers, and even change the grassland into a hunting place for some important people. To increase the grain production, they change the grassland to farm. To provide more meat to other provinces, they ordered the local people to feed more sheep on the grassland, which caused irreversible damage to this land. Han people didn’t believe in wolf totem either. They thought that people were so stupid that they trust wolves would send them to the god. Based on their opinion, wolves were absolutely bad guys. And all wolves should be killed. After several years’ hard work, with the help of modern weapons, they almost did it. Wolves were hardly seen after then. Those managers’ dream became true: most wolves were killed and some of them went to other places. There was no threat to all domestic animals, and neither to other wild animals that also ate grass. They could plant grains as they like. Finally, the grassland became desert due to overuse. The most famous sandstorm in Beijing years ago was also the result of the desertification in the north. At that moment, people realized that they were wrong. But everything was so late, that they could not stop everything. Human being is a miracle of the world. We can think, write and read. We have created a wonderful world and have many advantages over other creatures. But we are not the master of nature, but a part of it. The law of the nature should always the first priority. People should respect the nature, otherwise, would be get punished by nature. In the past few years, I think all of us have seen the punishments.

I can’t remember since when Valentine’s Day became popular in China. Each year on this day, you can see young girls selling roses on streets and the exits of subways, shopping malls covered with pink and red, and many young men holding bunch of flowers waiting for their lovers. Girls are so happy when they received flowers and chocolates, and young men are happier when they find that they can make their beauties happy. Sweetness and love are the theme of the whole world. Just as an old Chinese saying, “The crescent is shining above the whole country (in favor of nobody). But people’s lives are totally different: some with happiness and some with great sorrow.” Today is also single people’s nightmare. No matter where you go, sweet couples would come into your sight. Social apps also become platforms for Valentine’s Day photos shows. The single would feel much more lonely and sad when seeing these. There is another thing that also hurts single ones. People around you often ask questions like “what’s your plan on Valentine’s Day”, which makes the single dogs embarrassed. After all, no one wants to be alone. However, there is no need to feel upset because of loneliness. But enjoy it. Humans should experience all kinds of lives. Loneliness is one of the kinds. Couples are not always like this, and they used to be single before. Just wait for the right person’s coming. But being single does not mean that we have nothing to do on Valentine’s Day. Since we can’t change the reality, why not change our attitudes? Valentine’s Day is a day related to love, so we can also show our love to anyone that we love. Buy flowers for your mother, send a card to your friends faraway, and give your best regards to your colleagues. Just remember, “Be mine, I love you, you are my valentine.” can be used for all beloved people. Show your kindness to others and you would also receive best wishes from others.

In December, I wrote an article named “When a Fortune 500 crashes with Chinese culture”, describing “company bureaucracy”. Many readers commented it and gave me many good advices, and I would like to thank all of you for reading my article. Meanwhile, I am very sorry that my article conveyed something that is not positive. And in this article, I would like to give a brief introduction to the career life in a Fortune 500. Promotion opportunity is always a great lure to many candidates who are looking for a career. There would be many chances to get promotion in a multinational company. Most foreign companies have an advanced management system, especially well-arranged personnel management system. So it is possible for you to get a higher level in the same department, or apply other positions in other departments. Our company has established many entities in China, which belong to the same group. Then positions in other entities are also for your choice. Human Resource department would send emails, containing job vacancies in all entities, from time to time for internal staff. If you are going to change your job, just pay special attention to the information. If you don’t want to work in the same business, you certainly can go to others as you wish. And working experience here would be very helpful for your future career. The working environment is fantastic. The atmosphere in foreign companies is much livelier than that in Chinese organizations. All employees, from CEO to interns, can express their own opinions freely. And the bosses would never be a serious monster, but smile and show their kindness to everyone. You can even have jokes with CEO, CFO or other vice presidents. People can have a little talk during working time, as long as this does not affect your work. The bosses would never criticize you because of this. In the office, fruits, candies and snacks are always available, and you can enjoy them whenever you see, without considering who the owner is. For me, I love the holiday decorations very much. Christmas decorating starts from earlier December. Then Santa Clause, snowman, deer, wreaths, gifts wrapped in green and red as well as Charismas trees can be seen very where. After January 1 holiday, the office building is moved from west to east, with Chinese zodiacs, paper-cuts and other Chinese traditional things occupying the working place. The official language in the working environment is English. So no matter what your position is, you must have the ability to speak and write in English. Since there are many foreign employees working here, all staff involved in the meetings should communicate in English. And all emails should be written in English, because one your emails may be forwarded to any other colleagues who happen to be foreigners. And it would be very strange if your emails are in Chinese. Therefore, it is very important to be competent in this official language. Zodiac Monkey in the office To improve working ability and enhance staff’s comprehensive quality, the company provides various kinds of training for every employee each year. The training includes not only skills (e.g. management ability, time management etc.) that would benefit your career life, but also those are useful you in your daily life (e.g. psychologicalhealthknowledge). Christmas wreath on the office entrance gate In spare time, employees here can take part in a lot of activities. You can be a member in any sports club, and then have the possibility of participating club matches. You can invite your family members to Family Day, and your children to Baby Day, if possible, to show them the working place of their parents. The company often sponsors competitions, movies, sports events and many other activities, so that employees here would have access to stars and enjoy free movies or concerts. Since this is an auto company, many test-drives are arranged for the staff. You then have the opportunity to drive with handsome racing drivers and drive the most outstanding cars or even roadsters, which is very cool. Decorations in the office Life in a multinational company is challenging and exciting. You have the opportunity to work with the most distinguished persons, and also you are facing very big pressure. Meanwhile, you can gain a lot during the working. It is true that “Opportunity and challenges both exists.”

In December, I wrote an article named “When a Fortune 500 crashes with Chinese culture”, describing “company bureaucracy”. Many readers commented it and gave me many good advices, and I would like to thank all of you for reading my article. Meanwhile, I am very sorry that my article conveyed something that is not positive. And in this article, I would like to give a brief introduction to the career life in a Fortune 500. Promotion opportunity is always a great lure to many candidates who are looking for a career. There would be many chances to get promotion in a multinational company. Most foreign companies have an advanced management system, especially well-arranged personnel management system. So it is possible for you to get a higher level in the same department, or apply other positions in other departments. Our company has established many entities in China, which belong to the same group. Then positions in other entities are also for your choice. Human Resource department would send emails, containing job vacancies in all entities, from time to time for internal staff. If you are going to change your job, just pay special attention to the information. If you don’t want to work in the same business, you certainly can go to others as you wish. And working experience here would be very helpful for your future career. The working environment is fantastic. The atmosphere in foreign companies is much livelier than that in Chinese organizations. All employees, from CEO to interns, can express their own opinions freely. And the bosses would never be a serious monster, but smile and show their kindness to everyone. You can even have jokes with CEO, CFO or other vice presidents. People can have a little talk during working time, as long as this does not affect your work. The bosses would never criticize you because of this. In the office, fruits, candies and snacks are always available, and you can enjoy them whenever you see, without considering who the owner is. For me, I love the holiday decorations very much. Christmas decorating starts from earlier December. Then Santa Clause, snowman, deer, wreaths, gifts wrapped in green and red as well as Charismas trees can be seen very where. After January 1 holiday, the office building is moved from west to east, with Chinese zodiacs, paper-cuts and other Chinese traditional things occupying the working place. The official language in the working environment is English. So no matter what your position is, you must have the ability to speak and write in English. Since there are many foreign employees working here, all staff involved in the meetings should communicate in English. And all emails should be written in English, because one your emails may be forwarded to any other colleagues who happen to be foreigners. And it would be very strange if your emails are in Chinese. Therefore, it is very important to be competent in this official language. Zodiac Monkey in the office To improve working ability and enhance staff’s comprehensive quality, the company provides various kinds of training for every employee each year. The training includes not only skills (e.g. management ability, time management etc.) that would benefit your career life, but also those are useful you in your daily life (e.g. psychological health knowledge). Christmas wreath on the office entrance gate In spare time, employees here can take part in a lot of activities. You can be a member in any sports club, and then have the possibility of participating club matches. You can invite your family members to Family Day, and your children to Baby Day, if possible, to show them the working place of their parents. The company often sponsors competitions, movies, sports events and many other activities, so that employees here would have access to stars and enjoy free movies or concerts. Since this is an auto company, many test-drives are arranged for the staff. You then have the opportunity to drive with handsome racing drivers and drive the most outstanding cars or even roadsters, which is very cool.Decorations in the office Life in a multinational company is challenging and exciting. You have the opportunity to work with the most distinguished persons, and also you are facing very big pressure. Meanwhile, you can gain a lot during the working. It is true that “Opportunity and challenges both exists.”

Today is Laba Festival in the Year Goat. La (the forth tone in Chinese) stands for the last lunar month, Layue; And ba (the first tone in Chinese) means “the eighth day”. Many places in China would eat Laba gruel, a kind of porridge with rice and many other beans, nuts or some others, based on personal taste. In my hometown, eight kinds of materials are needed. But according to one text from my primary school book, the gruel needs eighteen kinds of ingredients, to memorize the eighteen arhats in the temple. And as for the originality of the festival food, there are several versions. Here I would like to introduce three original stories. 1. It was said Shakyamuni Buddha, who was “the primary figure in Buddhism and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules were believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers”, attained enlightenment on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. People then would eat gruel on this day every year, to memorize his sufferings in the six years before he was enlightened. Now many temples provide gruel to the public, which also originates from this story. 2. Zhuanxu, one of the five kings in remote ages, had three sons. They became devils after death, and would scare children. People use red beans, which was one material of the gruel to dispel the evil ghosts. And then Laba gruel began to become popular among common people. 3. During Qin Dynasty, the emperor ordered to build the Great Wall. All workers didn’t have enough food. On the eighth day, they gathered all grains that they had to make a kind of porridge, to avoid starvation. Unfortunately, many workers still died. To memorize these workers, people then ate gruel with all kinds of grains mixed on this day. Except eating Laba porridge, people also go to the temple to pray for good luck. In north China, today people make Laba garlic, with garlic pickled in vinegar. And the vinegar, with a taste of garlic then, will be used to match dumplings on Spring Festival. The garlic, which becomes green till Spring Festival, is also very delicious. For me, I prefer the garlic to the vinegar. It is said that in one county in Anhui Province, people would Laba toufu. But I have never seen such kind of food, and hope someday I can. It is not only the first festival in Layue, also considered as the start of Spring Festival. When I was young, my grandmother always said that people began to prepare for Spring Festival from today. In the old days, business people would stop their businesses, people who work outside would come home and peddlers who sell festival things became busy. And nian (Spring Festival) starts. Here I wish everyone could spend the festival with your beloved ones, and get prepared for the Spring Festival.

Last weekend, I met a female friend whom I haven’t seen for a long time. When I saw her at the selected point, she had two bags on her hands. So I offered to help. Then she gave me the two bags, which was totally not the right manner in China. And then we drank coffee together, and talked a lot. Two hours later, she was going home. Then I got a bigger surprise. She asked me to go to the subway station with her, because the bags were too heavy, and I was supposed to hold the bags for her, with the fact that I didn’t go home by subway. I was not inclined to refuse to help friends, so I did lift the bags till the arrival of subway station. On my way home, I began to think about the whole thing. Since I was not a strong girl, why did she ask me to help in that way, just like that I was a gentleman? One reason, I thought, perhaps was that I was not likely to refuse other’s request to help. But the most important one was that she considered herself as a princess and was superior to others, at least to me. I completely agree that every girl should treat herself as a princess, but my friend interprets “princess” as “princess tendency” (or false sense of entitlement). And she is certainly not one of the kinds. In the opinions of such girls, everyone else should treat them the way the way a princess deserves and they also take other’s kindness for granted. They don’t have to be nice to others, and all that they need to do, according to them, are wearing beautiful dresses and waiting for their prince charming. I hope that they could find their princes who also accept them as princesses and live happily after forever. But for me, they have nothing to do with a princess, except a shame for the noble title. Since such girls are not princesses at all, and then what a real princess should be like? A picture would come to our mind: gorgeous appearance, wearing a tiara, smiling and waving gracefully. These certainly are symbols of a princess and very important. But being a princess is about more than just better looking. A princess must be “a strong person who uses their courage to make life better for others and face responsibility, all while letting their inner beauty bring light to everyone around them.” She should have the ability to give perfect speeches, excellent posture, kindness, humility instead of proudness, good manners, politeness, and perfect dinner etiquette. In the movie Princess Diaries, Mia needs to prepare a lot, reading books, manner training and the ability to make speeches, before becoming a real princess. And in Roman Holiday, Princess Ann has to give up her true love in order to serve her own country. So being a princess is not easy, is it? But there is one more kind of princess, which is much harder to behave than the kind above: a girl in extremely hard situation but with a noble heart. A princess with gorgeous dress and tiara is easy to be identified; however, one with rags but a great heart is hardly to be seen. The later should deserve much more respect. For she can still behave like a princess and willing to help others, under the facts that people would neglect or even humiliate her. Maybe they are not pretty and don’t have beautiful clothes, and their inner beauty makes them glorious. Just like Sarah (a figure in movie A Little Princess) said to the principal, “I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics, even if they dress in rags, even if they aren't pretty, or smart, or young. They're still princesses.” She said so because she believed that a great heart is more important than the appearance. A tiara surely is considered as the symbol of a princess, but being a princess means much more than just wearing a tiara. A royal inner is much more significant than a royal appearance. And princess tendencies are certainly the distortion of the real meaning of being a princess. Now most girls should wake up from their princess dreams, and learn to be a real and respectable person.