Abstract The present thesis is a descriptive study of culturally specific items based on a translation project, which consists of two major parts: the Chinese translation of the first chapter of the English novel The Ghost, and the commentary on the translation. In the first part, the translator aims to render the exact contextual meaning of the original, as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the target language allow. The translator attempts to produce the precise contextual meaning of the original within the constraints of the target language grammatical structures, while taking account of the aesthetic value of the source text. Meanwhile, the translation allows flexibility during the translation process. The ultimate objective is to provide a natural target text which precisely captures the contextual meaning of the source text. In the second part, the commentary offers the insight from the translator's view regarding the decision making and translation methods adopted during translation process. The commentary attempts to provide a comprehensive analysis on the culturally specific items in The Ghost and its Chinese equivalents based on the current translation project, with the translation process, theories applied, challenges and difficulties and the translator's coping strategies fully discussed and analyzed. The commentary concentrates on discussion of translation challenges related to culturally specific items and cultural differences which reflect the close relationship between language and culture. Key words: translation project; translation commentary; culturally specific items