Dear MikeI`m happy to be able to write to you ,today I`m going to introduce a special plant to you-bamboo.As you know,bamboo is a tall and thin plant,it looks like an honest and elegant people standing(?) straight up on the ground and it`s beautiful to have many light green leaves in the higher part of its body,which looks like a unfolded umbrella,but the most distiguished(?) feature of it is the white circles in its green cane,it`s really good to look at,but what you might not heard of is bamboo has a special meaning in chinese culture,especially in acient china ,bamboo is a symbol of loyalty,wise and innocent,if a chinese praise you as a bamboo it probaboly means that he or she thinks you are the ones who don`t care about money or something like that,you have a good character,like a sage or something.there are also a lot of poeple in china like to send bamboo as gifts to their friends.while ,bamboo as gifts have a different meaning.it means that person who send it to you hope you`llget a higher position or(get?)rise in your recent job.It`s very interesting,isn`t it?well,honestly,there are many differences between chinese ans american culture,and I`d like to hear from you about some interesting things in America ,would you please tell me some?best wishesyours sincerelyLiHua