Hi,
I've done the translation. Hopefully my poor English won't kill you guys.
Allow me to introduce a little bit more about Taiwan. It is an island nearby China. It was known as "Formosa" in western world in 16th,17th centuries when Span, Holland, and Portugal ruled part of this island. It was governed by China and Japan (1895 ~ 1946) around several decades ago. Now it is governed by Republic of China (Not the People's Republic of China). The culture in Taiwan is mixed with Chinese, Japanese and aboriginal culture. So does the top culture I think! For more information see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Taiwan.
0 :00 ~ 0:22
The “Walking on the air” is the most attractive trick performed by the students at Mei-Hwa elementary school in Taoyuan, Taiwan. While enjoying spinning tops every day, this skill has helped them win a lot of awards at several traditional competitions. Look! It's a piece of cake to throw a top through a swinging pendulum.
0:22 ~ 0:34
Principal Yang says: “We give every new student a top and a string at the orientation on their first school day. We encourage students to play tops and hopefully by doing so, we are able to preserve our traditional top culture.”
0:34 ~ 0:51
The coach at Mei-Hwa, Chien-Wu Wu, is the champion of a competition for throwing a 100 Kg top. He also studies a lot of top cultures in Taiwan. “What can walk without feet, talk without a mouth, and overturn without a head? ”. Coach Wu asks an old riddle. “The answer is obvious. It’s a top.”
0:51 ~1:04
People say tops probably have more than 4000 years history. In Song Dynasty in China, they were called “Chien-Chien”. After Ming Dynasty they were called “ Tuo-Lo”. In Taiwan, they were called “Kan-Lo”.
1:04 ~ 1:29
Dasi, Taoyuan is the birth place of tops in Taiwan. The camphor wood is the best for making a traditional top because this type of wood is very uniform and easy to find. Coach Wu says: ” There is an old saying, ‘Camphor wood top can run, cypress wood top can roar, and Guava wood top can really bite’—the last one says Guava wood is really hard! “ . It kind of gives the standard choices of woods for making a top.
1:29 ~end
A good top should be symmetric, uniform so it can spin long provided that one throws it with enough strength. Don't you think life is like a spinning top, always keep running.
