Do you have a pet? Owning a pet is becoming very common(常见的) in China these days. And pet owners are now willing to spend more money on their pets than before.

    According to a report from Goumin.com and Pet Fair Asia, Chinese people living in cities spent a total of 202.4 billion yuan on their pets in 2019. Most pet owners are people born after 1990. Most of them have high incomes and are well educated. Pet owners in China are spending more on pet food, clothing and furniture, according to report from Euro monitor International.

    Miss Hou, 28, lives in the city of Chengdu. She spent 6,000 yuan on her two cats last year. I bought tinned cat food from the United States, New Zealand, Japan and Thailand, Hou said to Xinhua. If I have time, I also cook for them, she said.

    An aging society and fewer people having children are among the main reasons for keeping pets, said Liu Xiaoxia, CEO of Goumin.com. Keeping pets has met the emotional(感情的) needs of many people. Almost 60 percent of pet owners see their animal friends as their own children, Liu said.

    Beating loneliness might be another reason. Many young people are leaving their hometowns to make a living in big cities. They are suffering(忍受) from great loneliness and pressure, as they have few friends and face a high cost of living. Keeping pets will help them feel relaxed, the 2019 Chinese Pet Industry White Paper said.

Michael was an 8-year-old student. He became ill and had to spend all day in bed at home. Because other children could not come near him, he felt sad and bored.

There wasn't much to do, so he just looked out of the window. One day, something strange happened outside the window. It was a panda eating a sandwich. The panda said "good afternoon" to Michael and then left. Michael was very surprised. He tried to find out what was going on. Suddenly, he saw a monkey playing with a ball outside his window. Next came an elephant with a watermelon in his mouth. As Michael saw more and more strange animals, he began to laugh and found it hard to stop. Everything seemed to be better and better.

Luckily, Michael's health improved, he felt better and went back to school. He told his friend Dave about all the strange things outside his window. While Michael was talking, he saw something in Dave's schoolbag. Michael asked what it was and Dave showed him. Inside the bag were many clothes that looked like animals. Dave wore them to cheer Michael up while he was ill!

From that day on, Michael always tried his best to make sure his friends never felt sad or bored.

   Different countries and different people havedifferent manners. We must find out their customs so that they will not thinkus ill-mannered. Here are examples of the things that a person with good educationdoes or does not do.

   If you visit a Chinese family, you shouldknock at the door first. When the door is open, you should not move before thehost says "Come in, please. "After you enter the room, you should not sit downuntil the host asks you to take a seat. When a cup of tea is put on the teatable in front of you or sent to your hand, you should say "Thank you." andreceive it with both hands, not one hand, or they will think you are illmannered. Before entering a house in Japan, it is good manners to take off yourshoes. In European countries, even though shoes sometimes become very dirty,this is not done. In a Malaysian house, a visitor never finishes the food onthe table. He leaves a little to show that he has had enough. In England, avisitor always finishes a drink or the food to show that he has enjoyed it.This will make the host pleased.