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Chinese Dress
There are several common styles of Chinese dress that have made a comeback in recent years．Many of these have been modernized, while still retaining some of the traditional flavour．
Today we heard about旗袍，often just called qipao in English，or sometimes known by the Cantonese word cheongsam．In Mandarin we would say长衫，long gown．This style of dress actually comes from the Manchu nationality.The rulers of the last dynasty,the Qing，were Manchus，SO nobility often wore Manchu style clothing．The qipao is a one-piece dress with a high neck．It is usually fairly tight fitting，with a slit up one or both sides．Of course，there are many variations，but this is a very elegant，feminine gown．
Another style we heard about today was the唐装．It's a little like a中山装，a Chinese tunic suit often referred to in English as a Mao suit．中山装refers to Sun Yat-sen，in Chinese孙中山，who founded the Republic of China in 1911．In the West，this suit is perhaps called the Mao suit because it became the most popular form of dress after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949．But the唐装is slightly different．唐装are usually made with silk and have traditional Chinese patterns．They are much more fancy and stylish than the plain中山装．Again，there are many variations on this style．
