BBC documentary on Spring Festival

四川外国语大学 敖灿灿

Jutroduction

春节是中华民族最隆重的传统佳节，是中国人一年中最重要的时刻。2016年，英国广播公司拍摄了一部关于中国新年的三集纪录片，围绕中国各地一年一度的庆祝活动——春节——向英国人展示了相关的食物、传统和习俗。下面让我们跟随BBC的镜头，一起来感受下过年的快乐和团聚的幸福吧!

Chinese New Year is a time when the modern and the traditional are brought together to celebrate a tradition even older than the Great Wall of China.In 2016,the BBCfilmeda threepart documentary on Chinese New Year to show people in the UK about the food,traditions and customssurroundingthe national annual celebration.

In the 2016 series,the program's presenters tasted various Chinese dishes,traveled through rolling Chinese countryside,andwitnesseda proper family reunion.The three-episode documentary（三集纪录片）,namely Migration,Reunion and Celebration,is an eye-opener for most audiences in the West,and a tear-jerker（催人泪下的故事）for those in China.

It is hard to miss the careful planning that went into the documentary,to the point that in a sense,the series could be viewed as introduction to the Spring Festival for those not familiar with the traditional holiday.

Stories of real lives of people,from cities like Beijing to the remote mountains in Yunnan that the Lisu ethnic group calls home,are told by the hosts fromfirst-hand experiences.

Traditions,such as fishing for fat-head carp（鲤鱼）on Chagan Lake in Jilin Province,making 1,200 degrees molten iron dance in Nuanquan of Hebei Province,shopping for the right ingredients to prepare for the most important meal of the year on New Year's Eve and planning and rehearsing （排练）for a television program watched by 800 million viewers from around the world,are all vividlycaptured.

Family is the central aspect of Chinese lives;often the only chance a family gets to reunite during the whole year is during the Spring Festival. “Chunyun”,the Spring Movement in Chinese and a term that describes the massive migration where a sixth of the world's population travels home to celebrate the Spring Festival with their families across China,has already begun this year.Chinese people travel great distances each year to be reunited with their loved ones across the length and breadth of this huge and varied country.

The film refers to the Spring Festival as“the biggest celebration on the earth”,the Spring Festival Gala as the world's“mostwatched TV show”,and Chinese people going home for their holiday as “the largest human migration”.

Reading Check

1.What is the three-episode documentary mainly about?

A.Chinese dishes.

B.Chinese countryside.

C.Chinese family's reunion.

D.Chinese food,tradition and customs.

2.Why do people travel great distances in the Spring Festival?

A.To have a journey.

B.To spend their holiday.

C.To taste delicious food.

D.To reunite with family members.

Using Language

I.Important vocabulary in the text

1.film v.拍摄影片

2.surround v.围绕；环绕

3.witness v.目击；见证

4.capture v.拍摄；录制

5.first-hand experiences 亲身经历

Ⅱ.Complete the following sentences in correct forms with the vocabulary given above.

1.Recent years have___________many changes in China.

2.The images___________by her cameras.

3.Tall trees___________the lake.

4.He had___________her life story.

5.He is a journalist with___________of working in war zones.