The Mystery on the Great Wall of China

A Ride in a Rickshaw 29
<strong>The</strong> kids cheered and hopped out of their
rickshaws to stand together at the edge of the
street. <strong>The</strong> noisy parade was a colorful affair of
hot pink, orange, gold, lime, yellow, red, and
turquoise blue.
“Hey, Christina, look!” Grant said as he nudged
his sister with an elbow, “Here there be dragons!”
Long, snake-like, two-headed dragons
slithered by. A band of drummers, wearing
bright red and gold uniforms, marched between
the brightly-colored serpents.
“<strong>The</strong> noise is supposed to keep away evil
spirits,” Li explained.
Christina thought how often the ideas of
good and evil, good luck or bad, positive and
negative came up in Chinese conversation. She
thought that superstition must play a powerful
role in Chinese society. <strong>The</strong>n she thought of
how she and Grant squealed when a black cat
crossed their path back at home, and how they
refused to walk under a ladder.
Cong pulled a pretty red envelope from his
pocket. “We got our hongbao earlier,” he said.
“You got what!?” Grant exclaimed. A
hongbao didn’t sound good. <strong>The</strong>n he saw the
envelope. “What is it?”