Che fan le ma?

Can he fan le ma? That means "Have you eaten?" In China, we say these words as a greeting when we meet friends on the sidewalk or in the street. it is similar to asking "How are you?" or "What's up?" in English.

My name is Zhou Yuan. I am fourteen years old. My birthday is on the fifth Of January, which means that I am one of the oldest girls in my class. I was born in the Hunan province which is in southwest China, near Myanmar. My father is a policeman, and my mother works in a clothes shop. I used to have a dog named Guai Guai. I don't have any brothers and sisters, but I have a lot of cousins.

I've always loved dance. When I was five years old, I saw some Chinese folk dance on television. The dancers had very interesting facial expressions. And I liked the choreography! One dancer was carrying two baskets tied on opposite ends of a long bamboo stick. Then two more dancers came out of the baskets!

When I was eleven years old, I danced with a children's group in my neighborhood. One day the teacher came to my home and told my mother that our city's song and dance company was going to have an audition for children. My mother thought that it sounded like a good idea. She wants me to have lots of different experiences in my life. She thought it would be good for me to live away from home because it would help me to become very independent and strong. I really wanted to try.

The audition wasn't very difficult, but I was still nervous. We had to prepare a short solo dance. Luckily, one of my best friends also attended the audition, and we encouraged each other. She has always been a little bit taller than me, which means that she is always in the first group and I am always in the second group. I felt confident when I saw her watching me, and she felt the same when it was her turn. We were very happy when both of us were accepted into the academy!

On the first day of school they showed us our dormitories. There are seven girls in my room. My friend and I were put into different rooms, which gave us a chance to make new friends. My best friend in my room is Xie Pei. She is also fourteen years old and comes from Hunan province. In China, when you come from the same province, it's almost like you are brothers and sisters. When you meet someone from your hometown in a new city, you try to take care of each other.

The Guangdong Dance Academy is part of a big "yard" of artist groups. A yard is an area where people live and work together. Our school shares a yard with the Guangdong Song and Dance Company. They have a Chinese classical dance company, a Chinese folk music company, a western instrument orchestra, and a pop song and dance group. The pop group has many singers and six dancers. They perform in small cities and towns all over China, and sometimes they even perform on television. Most of the songs have Cantonese words and come from Hong Kong. A few of the songs have English words and come from America. All of the artists who work in these companies and their families live in our yard together. Sometimes when I walk through the yard to buy fruit at the open market, I hear the musicians practicing.

When I grow up, I hope to be famous and unique. I want to look for my own style, to be very individual and very strong. I don't want to be like every other dancer.