Late on Sunday night in     1     remote mountain village in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, a crowd burst into applause. Because they heard the news that their native tea forest lands     2    (record) on the World Heritage Site list at the 45th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.     3     they had heard

The Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Püer became China’s 57th entry on the World Heritage Site list. It is also the     5    (one) World Heritage Site with the theme of tea. The landscape stands out as an example of rich tea culture,     6     is centered on the ancient ways of planting and preserving the old tea forests.

On the basis of long-term practices, local people developed an under-story growing(林下种植）technique. That is     7    (create) ideal light conditions for the growing of tea trees through limited under-story growing. Meanwhile, it prevents insects     8     eating plants through the well-preserved forest ecosystem, so as to produce organic tea leaves without the     9    (apply) of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

This land-use system represents an     10    (exception) example of a human communication by Blang(布朗族) and Dai(傣族) peoples in a challenging environment.

Have you ever experienced one of the earliest movies? It boasts star-studded ensembles (乐团), undergoes rapid transformations in the blink of an eye, and even includes special effects, music and     1     (perform), all without the aid of machines or computers.

Utterly relying on hands, the ancient Chinese art of shadow play is a tradition with a history     2     dates back 2,000 years, and it’s also a representative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity     3     (recognize) by UNESCO.

Last month, two prominent online celebrities, Nanxiang Buaichifan and Jiuyue, shared videos documenting their journey to learn how to perform shadow puppetry that     4     (receive) over 20 million views so far on social media platforms. “Some romance may have long faded,     5     we can use traditional techniques passed down through the generations to create a romance     6     (belong) to today’s world, which is marked by hardships and complexities,” Bilibili content creator Shujiangyuan wrote, commenting on Jiuyue’s video.

The two celebrities dedicated a month     7     learning the art from scratch, beginning with the basic skills of handling cowhide (牛皮革). The challenge of mastering this millennia-old technique within such a short time initially seemed like mission     8     (possible). Fortunately, they were lucky enough to learn from     9     best — Dang Feihua, a 23-year-old inheritor of the shadow puppetry tradition. Dang says that the duo took their apprenticeships     10     (serious). “Jiuyue has a foundation in painting, so she learned quickly, while Nanxiang Buaichifan, having experimented with various crafts, also caught on swiftly,” he says.

Why chopsticks created: The tool for cooking

Taking food with fingers     1     (be) originally a common way of eating for humans, but then East Asia and Western Europe developed different tableware (餐具) to meet social and cultural etiquette (礼节). Why did the Chinese invent and use chopsticks instead of     2     (knife) and forks like the Westerners?

The reason is probably related     3     Chinese living habits.     4     (compare) with other regions’ food culture, Chinese food prefers thoroughly cooked vegetables, meat, and grains. In ancient times, there were generally two methods of cooking food: roasting and boiling.

Since China had advanced pottery culture, it was natural that boiling became the traditional and fundamental cooking method. Boiling food in a pottery container required much water, and the cooking process often needed small wood sticks     5     (stir).

Chopsticks’ original name in Chinese is “Zhu”,     6     has the same origin as “boiling”. It suggests that chopsticks are the tool for cooking at very first. Since the Chinese were used to using pottery and     7     (prefer) boiled food, and China had plentiful bamboo and wood, these factors together made up the basic conditions for     8     invention of chopsticks.

The     9     (early) known chopsticks are copper (铜) chopsticks from the late Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC). But as bamboo and wooden chopsticks are easy to rot,     10     is believed that the chopsticks existed early.

During Chinese New Year, a balloon loong (the Chinese pronunciation of dragon) measuring over 40 meters     1     length slipped through a shopping mall in Hong Kong. The 40-meter long loong,     2     (make) up of 38,000 balloons, broke the Guinness World Record as the largest balloon loong. The Guinness certification officer was     3     (remarkable) impressed, saying it was one of the     4     (delicate) balloon artworks ever.

The exhibition of the loong     5     (attract) large crowds of people’s attention for its magnificent appearance so far. To thank the audience for their support, balloon artist Wilson Pang printed 5,000 postcards     6     (feature) the loong and arranged a meeting with them at the mall. “Delivering a warm, loving, positive message to the people of Hong Kong     7     (be) what I always want to do,” Pang says.

Pang thinks     8     important to give young people opportunities, so he specially invited college and high school students to participate in the project. “I hope to share     9     I have learned with young people,” Pang says. “I have won championships myself and I hope to inspire     10     new generation of future champions.”

Baduanjin (八段锦),     1     form of qigong, is a set of traditional Chinese fitness exercises combining physical movement with breathing and meditation. Dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Baduanjin uses breathing and concentration techniques     2     (improve) body and mind through eight well-designed sequences. During the NorthernSong Dynasty, people enjoyed doing it,     3     has 8 simple movements, such as slowly opening the arms or raising the head. Today, this old exercise has gained its     4     (popular) again.

Last month, 28-year-old model Huang Qian decided to add Baduanjin     5     her daily routine. At first, when she saw     6     (video) of people practicing on social media platforms, she naturally associated it with the kind of exercise favored by the elderly     7     its movements are a bit slow. Nevertheless, now Huang enjoys practicing the exercise, which stretches and relaxes her whole body.

Her favorite fitness star German Pamela Reif had a video     8    (post). The video has received more than 900,000 views, 49,000 likes and 24,000 reports since it     9     (release) on Bilibili on Aug 8. Like many traditions, such as hanfu and music, Baduanjin is     10     (increase) recognized from people of all ages and is making a return to daily life.

So, would you like to give it a try?

With the worldwide celebration of the Chinese New Year, traditional Chinese cultural forms such as the Yingge Dance (Dance of Heroes) and dragon and lion dances have once again attracted widespread attention.

As the Chinese New Year is increasingly celebrated     1     (global), it has brought its traditional celebrations elsewhere and seen people of other countries join the festivities. This Spring Festival, a team of Yingge dancers from South China’s Guangdong Province     2     (invite) to the UK, bringing an exciting performance to London’s Burlington Arcade     3     (celebrate) the Chinese New Year.

Literally     4     (translate) as the “Songs of Heroes” dance, Yingge Dance is an old folk dance     5     originated from the Chaoshan area of South China’s Guangdong Province. Dressed in colorful costumes, performers wave wooden sticks in their hands while     6     (dance) in orderly formations to the music.

Based on the stories of the 108     7     (hero) of Liangshan Mountain from the classic novel Outlaws of the Marsh (《水浒传》), this is     8     folk art combining a variety of forms, from martial arts and Chinese operas to dance.

From a centuries-old art form to a magnum opus (杰作) of Chinese tradition worldwide, the     9     (popular) of Yingge Dance on the streets of London during the Spring Festival was a success     10     terms of traditional Chinese folk art sailing overseas.