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(fēng)箏始于2000 多年前的中國(guó)。有一個(gè)中國(guó)傳說，講的是一個(gè)農(nóng)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(fā)明風(fēng)箏的第一個(gè)靈感？也有人說，韓信將軍放風(fēng)箏測(cè)量一座城的城墻。后來放風(fēng)箏從中國(guó)傳到了其他國(guó)家。

如今，放風(fēng)箏節(jié)在世界各地舉行。在亞洲，經(jīng)常有“斗風(fēng)箏”活動(dòng)，人們?cè)噲D把別人的風(fēng)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(guó)，放風(fēng)箏既是一項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)又是一項(xiàng)娛樂活動(dòng)。在其他國(guó)家，放風(fēng)箏是類似在新年假期和日本的五月男孩節(jié)中的兒童游戲，或者在巴西或哥倫比亞作為消遣活動(dòng)。

以下是世界各地一些著名的放風(fēng)箏的節(jié)日。

風(fēng)之節(jié)是澳大利亞最大的風(fēng)箏節(jié)。風(fēng)之節(jié)于每年九月在悉尼的邦迪海灘舉行。

樸茨茅斯（英國(guó)）國(guó)際風(fēng)箏節(jié)有數(shù)以千計(jì)瑰麗多彩的風(fēng)箏。放風(fēng)箏和制作風(fēng)箏的技巧展示了世界各地風(fēng)箏的傳統(tǒng)，天空和地面上有許多風(fēng)箏供游客欣賞。

開普敦國(guó)際風(fēng)箏節(jié)有20，000 名游客和數(shù)百種不同的風(fēng)箏，是非洲最大的風(fēng)箏節(jié)。

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

（英語(yǔ)原文選自：kidworldcitizen.org）