Kite Flying Around the World環游世界的風箏

Kite flying started in China more than 2，000years ago. There is one Chinese legend1 that a farmer’s hatflew off his head， but followed him in the air attached2 to a thread3 from hisclothing. Maybe that is the first inspiration4 for kites？ It is also said that General5Han Xin flew a kite to measure6 the wall of a city. Kite flying then was taken toother countries from China.

Nowadays， kite flying festivals are held around the world. In Asia， there are often“kite fights”， where people try to cut others’kites down like in Afghanistan andPakistan. In Indonesia， India， Vietnam， and China kite flying is both sport andrecreation7. In other countries， kite flying is children’s play like during the New Yearholidays and the Boys’Festival in May in Japan， or in Brazil or Colombia for fun.

Here are some famous festivals of kite-flying around the world.

Festival of the Winds is the Australia’s largest kite-flying festival.The Festival of the Winds is held in every September in Sydney， atBondi Beach.

Portsmouth （UK） International Kite Festival hasthousands of beautiful and colorful kites. The art of kiteflying and kite making shows the tradition of kitesaround the world， with many kites in the sky and on theground for visitors to enjoy.

With 20，000 visitors and hundreds of differentkites， the Cape Town International Kite Festival is thelargest kite festival in Africa.

Weifang， Shandong， China is known as the kitecapital8 of the world， and people think it is thebirthplace of kites. While in Weifang， you can visit thelargest kite museum in the world and a kite factory.

放風箏始于2000 多年前的中國。有一個中國傳說，講的是一個農民的帽子從他的頭上飛了下來，但被他衣服上的一根線系著飄到了空中。也許這是發明風箏的第一個靈感？也有人說，韓信將軍放風箏測量一座城的城墻。后來放風箏從中國傳到了其他國家。

如今，放風箏節在世界各地舉行。在亞洲，經常有“斗風箏”活動，人們試圖把別人的風箏剪下來，例如在阿富汗和巴基斯坦。在印度尼西亞、印度、越南和中國，放風箏既是一項運動又是一項娛樂活動。在其他國家，放風箏是類似在新年假期和日本的五月男孩節中的兒童游戲，或者在巴西或哥倫比亞作為消遣活動。

以下是世界各地一些著名的放風箏的節日。

風之節是澳大利亞最大的風箏節。風之節于每年九月在悉尼的邦迪海灘舉行。

樸茨茅斯（英國）國際風箏節有數以千計瑰麗多彩的風箏。放風箏和制作風箏的技巧展示了世界各地風箏的傳統，天空和地面上有許多風箏供游客欣賞。

開普敦國際風箏節有20，000 名游客和數百種不同的風箏，是非洲最大的風箏節。

中國山東濰坊被稱為世界風箏之都，人們認為它是風箏的發源地。在濰坊，你可以參觀世界上最大的風箏博物館和一家風箏工廠。

（英語原文選自：kidworldcitizen.org）