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Have you ever been to a Chinese friend's birthday party? Do you know what would be a good gift? Now, let's learn something about birthday parties.
PART 01 LEARN THE YEAR, MONTH, DATE AND DAYS OF A WEEK
Jīntiān shì èr líng èr èr nián bā yuè jiǔ rì xīngqī’èrNotes: In Chinese, dates are expressed in descending order, that is, 年(nián) is followed by 月（yuè）and 日（rì）. In 年，each number is read directly. Both 日 and 号（hào）mean date; the former is used in written Chinese, while the latter is used in spoken Chinese.
PART 02 BRAINSTORM
PART 03 WHAT PRESENTS DO YOU WANT TO GIVE ?
PART 04 USEFUL EXPRESSIONS
Sān yuè èrshísì hào shì wǒ de shēngrì.24th of March is my birthday.Wǒ xiǎng qǐng nǐ cānjiā wǒ de shēngrì wǎnhuì.I want to invite you to my birthday party.Zhù nín jiànkāng chángshòu!I wish you both health and longevity!Jīntiān shì wǒ èrshí suì shēngrì.Today is my 20th birthday.Zhè shì wǒ sòng nǐ de shēngrì lǐwù.Here is your birthday gift/present.This is longevity noodles.
Wǒ lái qiē shēngrì dàngāo.I will cut the birthday cake.Diǎn shang làzhú, xǔ ge yuàn ba.Light the candles and make a wish.Dàjiā yìqǐ chàng shēngrì gē ba.Let’s sing the birthday song together.Xièxie nǐ lái cānjiā wǒ de shēngrì wǎnhuì.Thank you for your coming to my birthday party.TIP: When Chinese celebrate one’s birthday, they usually eat noodles, which are known as longevity noodles（长寿面chángshòumiàn）. By eating longevity noodles, people wish the person whose birthday is being celebrated a healthy and long life.
When giving a birthday gift, it is noteworthy that a clock cannot be given as a birthday gift. Since 送终（sòng zhōng, to give a clock as a present）is homophonic to 送终（sòngzhōng, to attend upon a dying parent or other senior member of one’s family）, which is inauspicious.
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