1. Excerpt: "It's Snowing" 2. Composition: "A Letter to a Friend Far Away"

1. The sky had been gloomy all morning. At noon, suddenly some white dots fell from the sky, one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock... "It's snowing, it's snowing!" Cousin Holding a rice bowl and shouting, he rushed out of the door. "It's really snowing, what a little snow!" My cousin and I also cheered and rushed to the courtyard. The snow fell very lightly at first, like tiny grains of snow-white millet falling from the sky. Slowly, the snow fell heavier and heavier, and the snowflakes fell slowly like tiny cotton balls. After a while, I saw goose-like snowflakes falling from the cloud-covered sky. As soon as the snowflakes fell to the ground, they slowly melted. By two or three o'clock in the afternoon, the ground was already wet. Looking at the branches, the stone table outside is already covered with a thick layer of white snow. The tiles on the roof are like covering a white quilt. The vast expanse of white is so beautiful!

2. (1) Wuxi “Meat Bones”

Wuxi “Meat Bones” has a history of more than 100 years. Wuxi meat bones are actually not "bones" at all, but the fine meat near the ribs is selected and burned together with the ribs. The ingredients include fennel, soy sauce, and old wine. When cooking, the edge of the pot must be sealed with flour, and cooked over a slow fire until fragrant and crispy. Use rock sugar to collect the paste before serving. Its gravy is sweet and fragrant and becomes a paste, commonly known as "old juice". When selling meat bones, pour the old juice on the cooked meat to mix the juice with the meat. Wuxi meat and bones have good color, aroma and taste. They look red in color and smell fragrant. They are oily but not greasy, rotten but not mushy, and have moderate sweetness and saltiness.

Wuxi meat and bones are divided into two schools: the northern and southern schools. The southern school is represented by Sanfengqiao Meat Shop, and the northern school is represented by Lu Gaojian Meat Shop. The southern style uses a cage ring to place the pot and tighten the soup for cooking; the northern style uses a wooden joint to cook the wide soup, and uses water chestnut powder to collect the soup. At present, the more famous restaurants that cook pork ribs include Sanfengqiao Butchery, Lugaojian Butchery, Yuxing Butchery, Laosanzhen Butchery, etc.

(2) Wuxi oil gluten

The production of Wuxi oil gluten began in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty (mid-18th century) and has a history of more than 230 years. The original preparation method was to add sifted bran with salt water and manually step it into raw bran (also known as gluten). The raw bran was then kneaded into blocks and fried in a boiling oil pan to become spherical and hollow oily gluten. The term "Qingshuiyougluten" appeared in the late Qing Dynasty (mid-19th century). The first store to display the "Qingshuiyougluten" sign was the Ma Chengmao Gluten Shop in Badou Nong.

Wuxi oil gluten is golden in color, smooth in surface, crispy in flavor, delicious and rich in vitamins and protein. If it is stuffed with meat and cooked, it will have a unique flavor.

(3) Yixing lily

Yixing lily, together with Lanzhou lily and Dragon tooth lily, are the three edible lilies in my country. However, the ones that can be included in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" must be Yixing. lily. Yixing lily contains a variety of alkaloids, starch, protein, fat and other ingredients. It has the functions of nourishing and strengthening, moistening the lungs and relieving cough, clearing away heat and diuresis, regulating the spleen and stomach, calming the mind and calming the mind. It can play some of the functions of ginseng. Fresh lilies, lily powder, canned lilies in sugar water, lily soup, etc. are all popular.

(4) Dafu Yangmei

Yixing ceramics have a history of four to five thousand years, among which purple clay pottery is the most distinctive. Its unique shape, exquisite craftsmanship, simple color and excellent practical functions enjoy a high reputation at home and abroad. There are thousands of varieties of purple clay pottery such as pots, cups, bottles, and basins. Among them, purple clay teapots not only have high artistic value, but also have unique advantages such as no odor when brewing tea, no discoloration when storing tea, and no rancidity in midsummer. In 1984, the bamboo slip and purple clay tea set won the gold medal at the Leipzig International Fair. In addition to purple clay pottery, there are also Yixing celadon, known as the "emerald of the East", as well as uniform pottery, fine pottery, painted pottery and arts and crafts pottery.

(5) Huishan clay figurines

The creation and production of Huishan clay figurines began in the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty (mid-14th century to the end of the 14th century). It has a history of more than 500 years. Its development It has gone through three stages: the period of showmanship, the period of hand-made opera and the period of plaster statues.

In the initial stage of Huishan clay figurines, there were no professional workshops and it was just a sideline business for local farmers. The main products at this time were toys (i.e. children's toys), including Big Afu, Pihu, and Xiaohua. Girl, little cat, etc. The works are simple and simple, with rough lines and full of life interest.

In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Kun Opera spread from Kunshan, Taicang, Songjiang and Suzhou to Wuxi. The artists who made clay sculptures in Huishan were influenced by drama and created many clay sculptures based on Kun Opera dramas. Huishan clay figurines entered the "hand-made drama period". Artists call this type of work "fine goods" and the previous children's toys "coarse goods". At this time, not only did professional workshops and professional artists appear, but the artistic level of the works was also greatly improved. The artistic techniques adopt the main techniques of "using virtual reality, using simplicity to replace complexity, and using spirit to convey emotions". There are two or three people per seat in the hand-held opera. The content of dramas is divided into two categories: one is Kun Opera drama, written by Ding Ajin around the sixth year of Xianfeng (1856); the other is Peking Opera drama, created by Zhou Asheng around the fourth year of Tongzhi (1865). Both Ding and Zhou were influenced by Zhu Gusheng, a sculpture artist at that time. Their scenes had neat faces and detailed and gorgeous costumes.

After 1930, plaster-turning workers in Tianjin introduced plaster works to Huishan, and Huishan clay figurines entered the "gypsum statue period" from then on. At this time, the themes of the works also expanded, with portraits of descendants of the century and great figures of the country accounting for a large proportion. Therefore, gypsum products are becoming more and more popular.

In its heyday before the Anti-Japanese War, Huishan clay figurines were exported to various parts of Southeast Asia and won awards at the Greek and Chicago Expositions.

After liberation, the Wuxi Municipal People's Government vigorously supported the production of Huishan clay figurines and established the "Huishan Clay Sculpture Creation Research Institute", which organized and excavated many outstanding artistic heritages. In 1958, Huishan Clay Figure Factory was established. Nowadays, Huishan clay figurines are not only famous domestically, but also famous overseas.

(6) Wuxi Peach

Peach, oil, gluten, and meat and bones are also known as the "three unique products" of Wuxi. It is characterized by thin skin, soft flesh, sweet taste, rich juiciness, rich aroma, less fiber, no insects, and melts in the mouth. It is a treasure among peaches.

Around 1930, the Sanliu Peach Garden in Dingcun, Outang, began to introduce peach cultivation from Fenghua, Zhejiang, and peach cultivation began in Wuxi.

The main peach varieties in Wuxi include Zaoluolin (also known as Zaoshuimi), Baifeng, Juanshilang, Honghua, Gangshan, Pantao, etc. Zaoluolin is the earliest to mature and is available in early July; before and after Minor Heat, there are Zaobaifeng, Xiaoshuhong, Juanishilang and other varieties; entering the Great Heat is the golden season of peach, and at this time, Zhongbaifeng overwhelms all others and takes the top spot; The beginning of autumn is the time when white flowers bloom in the late afternoon; Gangshan peaches are the latest to come on the market, in mid-to-late August.

In terms of texture, red flowers and white flowers are the best. Safflower has good color and fragrance, thin skin and watery texture, slightly pink color and sweet taste. The white flowers are fleshy white in color, and their skin is slightly thicker than the red flowers. They are very large and have a pointed top. The average flower is three to four taels each, and the larger ones are six, seven taels or even one pound. Both types of peaches are available in late July. The worst quality peaches are Zaolorin and Gangshan peaches, which are bluish-white in color, hard and slightly sour in taste. The shape of the peach is as oblate as a plate, hence the name peach. It is slightly inferior to red flowers and white flowers in terms of water content and sweetness, and has become rare in recent years.

(7) Taihu white fish

Also known as Taihu red fish, it is a high-quality economic fish in Taihu area. Its meat is white, tender and delicious. It can be caught all year round, but the quality during the transplanting season is the best. In ancient times, it was called "Shili Bai" and had the reputation of being "as bright as silver and as delicious as ever". The best way to eat it is to stew it, but it can also be fried.

(8) Taihu white shrimp

Also known as Taihu beautiful long-arm shrimp, it is a famous aquatic product of Taihu Lake. Its shell is thin, transparent, and its meat is tender and delicious. It is rich in protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A and other nutrients. Fresh shrimp can be made into shrimp, and Taihu shrimp won the title of excellent product at the first national aquatic product processing product competition; dried and peeled, it becomes shrimp, commonly known as "Humi"; crumbs and shrimp roe are the raw materials for delicious shrimp roe soy sauce.

(9) Taihu Silverbait

It is so named because it has no scales, is crystal clear and as white as silver. There are 4 species: small whitebait, shortnose whitebait, oligodentate shortnose whitebait and snowy whitebait. Its meat is tender, white and delicious, rich in protein and calcium, iron, phosphorus and other elements.

Hibiscus whitebait, crispy whitebait, and whitebait scrambled eggs are all delicacies for banquets. Mid-May to early June is the whitebait flood season. Every year, hundreds of tons of whitebait are quick-frozen and sold to Japan, Hong Kong and Macao.