Loulan,    1    ancient city on the Silk Road, brings back    2    (image) of mystery and romanticism even as it disappears into the mists of history.

Shiji,or Records of the Grand Historian, the foundational text of Chinese history    3    (date) back to the first century BC, records that before the 2nd century BC,Loulan was already famous in Xiyu.    4    , it collapsed in about the 5th century. In 1900,Swedish explorer Sven Hedin discovered the site of ancient Loulan.

    5    (locate) in Lop Nur, a former salt lake which    6    (dry) up to a large extent now, in Ruoqiang county, Bayingolin Mongol autonomous prefecture,Xinjiang, the Loulan site covers an area of about 120,000 square meters,    7    extremely harsh environment ensured that few people set foot on this area. In the 1990s, when mummies were discovered in this area, grave robbers noticed the wealth of cultural relics.    8    (tackle)the situation, a Loulan cultural relics protection station was built in 1998. At first it was    9    (season), and later became permanent in 2003.

Over the years, five stations have been built in Lop Nur, and altogether 20 people    10    (work) at them safeguarding heritage, according to Feng Jing, director of Loulan Museum in Ruoqiang.

“Only when I take the needle out and touch the silk thread, I feel     1    (full)comfortable,” says Zou Yingzi, an inheritor of Su embroidery(刺绣), an ancient craft that originates from the garden city of Suzhou in Jiangsu province.

The day before the interview,     2     53-year-old woman worked more than 10 hours, until late into the night, on a large piece of Su embroidery. A piece measuring around half a meter can take her months     3    (complete). From Zou’s mother to her grandmothers, all the women in her family are good at needlework, particularly Su embroidery, which features rich stitches(缝针)and the creative use     4     silk threads dyed in various colors.

Su embroidery has a history of more than 2,000 years. A piece of fabric with silk embroidery     5    (find) from a tomb in the area showed that the craft dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period(770-476 BC). In ancient times, needlework was a must-learn skill for women,     6     had to make clothes for their families. It was a tradition that mothers should make wedding clothes with exquisite(精美的)embroidery for their     7    (daughter).

Zou     8    (recall)that, when she was little, her grandmother was busy every day, making wedding clothes and quilts for granddaughters. At the age of 6, she started to help her mother to make Su embroidery items, all of which     9    (sell)to support the family.

She had a dream to become a     10    (paint). Now, the needle helps her to realize that dream.

In 1998, an eco-museum was established in Suojia Miao, Yi and Hui Township, China’s Guizhou Province. Consisting of 12 villages, including Gaoxing Village, the eco-museum is different from traditional ones. It isn’t enclosed by walls and    1     it showcases is more than various collections.

Xiong Shaozhen, a 77-year-old resident of Gaoxing Village, weaves every day with a loom (织布机) in a wooden house, her daughter-in-law busy    2    ( learn )the craft from her．“The costumes, language, music and even the way of production of the local community are all living     3    (significance) exhibits,” said Luo Gang, head of the museum.

A decade ago,Gaoxing Village    4    (list) in a traditional Chinese villages catalog (目录).However,Luo found there were few looms left in the village.He    5    (apply) for a budget from relevant departments and invited professional craftsmen to produce looms for the villagers. He asked each villager that received the machine    6    (use)it and train an inheritor (继承者) of the local weaving technique. In addition, most of the old folk houses with their    7    (roof) made of straw needed regular replacement and Luo had their original appearance     8    (restore).

There are 25 such eco-museums in the province, which are in line     9     sustainable development principles. Not only do they guide villagers to perform independent-management and activate their passion for preserving their traditional cultures, but they create more jobs and give     10    boost to local tourism.