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0The little town making nearly all of China's lanterns
In China, red lanterns could guide a traveller to safety in cold winter alleyways, be symbols of power outside an imperial hall, or act as a call to religious devotion when hung in a temple.
They are also absolutely synonymous with Chinese new year celebrations right across the vast country and link today's Chinese people with the culture of their ancestors. To imagine how many lanterns would be hung here, at any given time, is like trying to count how many trees would be in the Amazon.
And yet it is claimed that a remarkable 80% of the country's lanterns are still made – by hand – in one small town in Hebei Province.
Nobody seems to know just how many hundreds of years ago the craft started in this part of northern China but, if you're born in Tuntou, you are immersed in lantern making from a very young age.
"When you see others in your family doing it every day, you get the hang of it quickly," one woman told the BBC, adding that "Kids here can pick it up at from around 10-years-old."
It seems remarkable that, in an era of high-tech production lines, this town has been able to maintain a stranglehold on the lantern market, using production techniques from another era.
In the future, modern production may find a way to match what this village can do by hand. However, for now, this is China's lantern town, and its residents are proud that it is known this way.
生词好句
synonymous with 同义于：表示两个词或短语在意义上相同或相似，可以互换使用
When we say something is "synonymous with" something else, we mean the two ideas are so closely connected that we think of one when we hear the other. One thing makes us think of the other thing.
Pizza is synonymous with Italian food.披萨是意大利美食的代名词。
For many people, Hollywood is synonymous with the movie industry.对于很多人而言，好莱坞就等同于电影工业。
a remarkable percentage of something 显著很多
So we use this expression to highlight that a number or percentage is surprisingly large or impressive.
A remarkable 70% of students passed the exam on their first try.高达70%的学生一次性通过了考试。
A remarkable 60% of the city now travels by public transport.如今这座城市有高达60%的人选择乘坐公共交通出行。
get the hang of it 掌握诀窍
If you "get the hang of something" you learn how to do it after some practice. At first it may feel a bit of difficult, but after a while it becomes easier, you get the hang of it.
The game looks confusing at first, but you get the hang of it quickly.这个游戏刚开始看起来让人摸不到头脑，但你很快就能明白。
Once he got the hang of the software, he could use it easily.他一了解这个软件的用法，就能轻松地使用了。
