![]() Many of the designs bear messages of good luck a pine tree and a crane, for example, mean longevity, bats and peaches wish you good fortune and a long life, and so on. Custom-made kites are painted manually after covering. For mass-produced kites, pre-printed paper is used to cover the frames. Painting of the kite may be done in either of two ways. Silk kites are more durable and generally of higher artistic value. This is normally done with paper, sometimes with silk. The second step in the making of a kite is the covering of the frame. Both sides of the crosspiece should be equal in width. For miniature kites, on the other hand, thin bamboo strips are to be used to reduce the weight. It should be thick and strong for a kite of large dimensions in order to stand the wind pressure. ![]() For the frame, the right kind of bamboo must be selected. The process of kite making has four steps: selecting, covering, painting and flying. Gradually kite flying became a seasonal activity - the main kite flying season occurs from Chinese New Year (usually in January and February) through Qingming (usually in March or April) because of favorable winds. Kite flying became a recreational game during the Song Dynasty (960-1278) and was spread to Europe in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Since then, the popular Chinese name for kites has become Feng Zheng(wind zither). During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), people fixed on kites some bamboo strips which, when high in the air, would vibrate and ring in the breeze like a zither (a stringed instrument). Since the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), kites were used for measuring and messages transmitting. Legend has it that, the first Chinese kites were made of wood and called Muyuan (wooden kites) by the famous architect and carpenter Lu Ban during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC) after the invention of paper, kites began to be made of this new material called Zhiyuan (paper kites). Its history can be traced back to more than 2000 years ago. Kite, also called Feng Zhengin Chinese, originated in China and it has been praised as the forerunner of modern aerocrafts. Kite flying is one of the most popular traditional sports in China.
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