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Festival of kites
One of the most colorful and vibrant festivals, which is held every year in some cities of China - is the festival of kites, the capital of which for several centuries is the city of Wéifāng.
This day the sky is powdered with small dots, to which the strings are drawn, trapped in the hands of smiling and satisfied Chinese people, who gambol as children.
This game has been known in Europe since the beginning of the sixteenth century, but the kite was invented in fact, in China as early as the fifth century BC.
There are several legends about the appearance of the first kite, and according to one of them the peasants, working in the field, in order to protect somehow the head from the parching rays of the sun wove a hat from the branches of a bamboo and put it on his head.
In a moment, a gust of wind tore the hat from his head and carried away. The farmer tried to catch a hat, but was able to grasp only a small tape, which helped to keep the stalks of bamboo together.
For a time he had run after his hat, holding it for the tape and trying unsuccessfully to catch it.
Gradually, this activity began to seem so amusing to him, and thus this simple game has found its place in the gray everyday peasant's life.
However, in ancient times, the kites were often used not for entertainment.
They can be often used during the war by launching a kite in the direction of the enemy, after stuffing it with gunpowder and exploding at a time when it was over the heads of the enemy army.
They are also used for fishing by attaching to the construction a fish line and a hook and launching it in the middle of the lake, so that the fish bite better, because it will not be scared of the boat and people sitting in it, as happened when fishing in the usual way.
Even in ancient times, musical kites were flown, which were attached to one or more thin bamboo strips, which gave melodious sounds of the wind.
Many Chinese bring the construction of a kite to the level of art, giving it the shape of dragons, butterflies, peacocks, bats and even a tractor or any building, as well as coloring them in various colors and shades.
There is even the view that the launch of a kite has a very positive impact on health and general well-being.
To fly a kite, as a rule, you need two people: one holding the kite, and the second holding the reel.
Launching the real works of art, which dimensions can reach 70-100 meters, the strength of at least three people are needed, one of them holds the reel of fishing line and the head of the kite, the second holds the tail and another person holds the structure in the middle.
To launch the kite correctly and beautifully, you must acquire some skills, after all is not as simple as it first seems.
It is not a secret that this activity is much easier than stamping press for instance but nevertheless, you are required to have some skills.
The line that connects the kite with the person, should always be tensioned and it should be let only when you feel that the kite wants to fly as high as possible into the sky.
The most famous place in China, which is considered the capital of kites - Tiananmen Square - is the place where the kites are launched almost all year round and where the crowds come to watch the unforgettable spectacle of flying kites of all sorts of fantastic shapes in the sky, as well as to purchase one of these works from the true masters of their craft.
The peak season of flying the kites in China is a windy spring and autumn, when thousands and thousands of kites of different shapes and forms are flying in the sky.
The cost of this kite can vary from 2 to 360 dollars, the average price for tourists, who tend to buy the kites in standard sizes - not less than 15 dollars.
The process of creating a kite requires some patience and skills, because the slightest inaccuracy and the kite may not simply fly.
First of all, a large piece of silk is spread on the floor, after which the image invented by the master, is applied to it, which should be made at first time, whereas the slightest inaccuracy leads to the need to take a new piece of silk and start all over again.
Then the bamboo frame is laid on the picture and is attached to it, after which an unnecessary piece of silk is cut off, a piece of fishing line and reel is adapted to the construction and the kite is ready.
The most simple kites are made this way.
If, for example, the master decided to make a kite in the shape of a dragon, then he needs for this part of the kite, to make first a frame made of bamboo stems which are gently heated and bent in order to give them the necessary shape.
Every year in Wéifāng, thousands of kites, the smallest of which is almost 10 cm and the largest is more than 100 meters are launched in the sky over the city, after which a team of judges evaluates the appearance of a kite, its design, the quality of the whole construction, the quality of the picture on the tissue and then gives the verdict.
Also, the judges assess how easily the kite flies, how gracefully it levitates in the sky and how far it can fly from one time.
If the thread was tangled, the participant would not be penalized by points and would not go out of the race, he would just start his performance again.