China and the Netherlands (荷兰) are long-time friends. The Netherlands is more than 41,500 square kilometres in area. It is a bit larger than the size of Taiwan, China. The Netherlands is rich in culture and art. It is home of many great artists, for example, Vincent van Gogh. Besides fine art, the Netherlands is also called the country of tulips (郁金香). It has the world’s largest tulip garden: Keukenhof garden. Dutch people are very hard-working. There’s a saying: “God made the Earth, but the Dutch made Holland.” More than a quarter of the country is below sea level. So Dutch people build many dams (水坝) to protect the country from flooding. They have created almost one sixth of the country from seas and rivers! Did you know? ◆ Rubber ducks are popular around the world. Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman created it in 2007. The yellow duck is 26 metres high. ◆ Wooden clogs (木底鞋) are traditional shoes in the Netherlands. They make good gifts for tourists. ◆ In the Netherlands, it is impolite to start eating at once. Dutch people will sometimes say “delicious” before eating. ◆ Like the UK, the Netherlands also has kings and queens. 小题1:Taiwan, China is than the Netherlands in area.
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