The Chinese Longtaitou Festival, or Dragon-Head-Raising Festival falls on the second day of the second lunar month every year. Chinese people believe that rainfall     1     (increase) after this day because the rain-bringing Dragon King has awakened from his winter sleep.

The festival celebrates ancient agricultural Chinese culture, and while some of     2     (tradition) ways to celebrate it are no longer practiced, others persist. The most famous tradition is getting     3     haircut. Some believe that going to the barber’s on this day gets rid     4     bad luck, while others believe doing that during the first month of the lunar calendar brings bad luck. Another saying warns that     5     (cut) your hair in the first month will cause your uncle to die in several months. Although today few pay attention to it, it was once a tradition     6     (line) up outside barber shops on the day of Longtaitou, having avoided haircuts for the previous month.

People eat toufu balls in Fujian province during the festival, and     7     (frequent) make tofu and vegetable balls to pray for family and business. Eating chengyao cakes,     8     are made of sticky rice, is a tradition in Suzhou in memory of the saying, “If he eats chengyao this day,     9     (he) waist won’t hurt all year.” Meanwhile other foods, like noodles, dumplings, and spring rolls,     10     (name) after dragon body parts to mark the day. Noodles are dragon’s beard, dumplings are dragon’s ears, and spring rolls are dragon’s scales.

A material can be really special when it was named after the place where it     1     (create) originally. That’s certainly the case with “China”. And of all     2     (type) of China, white porcelain (瓷) is among the most famous.

Nowadays, the     3     (tradition) material has taken on a modern look in the     4     (hand) of four Chinese artists in the Modern White Porcelain Exhibition. And the key word here is “modern”. One of the works     5     (be) a porcelain boat. But look     6     (attentive) and you will see that the boat     7     (build) with porcelain looks like a takeout box. Inside the boat is a statue of a baby. The baby stands     8     humans and the boat is what supports life. It suggests we may have done some damage to     9     environment and that we’re treating life like fast food.

All the four artists gave white porcelain a model style, each in their own way. And this is what the exhibition’s theme comes from. It’s a dialogue between the past     10     the present.

Chinese was formally announced an official language of the United Nations World Tourism Organization on January 25.

That means the organization will use the Chinese language,     1     will enhance China’s soft power in global tourism and, by extension, the cultural domain. It will help China’s tourism growth, contributing to other countries     2     (adopt) its policies. Tourist attractions will also get more     3     (expose). The number of people learning Chinese will definitely grow.

There are two main reasons for that. First, Chinese cultural and tourism authorities     4     (promote) Chinese culture for long. It was not until in 2006     5     Spring Festival was listed as a national cultural heritage and given special protection. Now, there are many     6     (influence) festival lists in the world and almost all of them list the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival: many even list it at the top. Second, the year-on-year growth in the number of Chinese tourists has also played     7     indispensable part in promoting the Chinese language and culture.     8     (global), Chinese faces have become common at scenic spots. That has a lot to do     9     China’s improving economy and the constantly rising per capital income (人均收入).

With China’s growing comprehensive capabilities, it     10     (hope)that its influence in other soft power domains will also grow.

Few discoveries are as amazing as discovering the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an. But behind the lifelike masterpieces, there is a group of experts working hard     1     (keep) the more than 2 00-earold historical relies in good condition.

Lan Desheng, 52, is among the     2     (dozen) of experts on the restoration (复原) team at the Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum in Xi’an. “    3     process of restoring Terracotta Warriors is very similar     4     doctors treating patients,” said Lan, who has spent 25 years     5     (repair) more than 150 figures of the Terracotta Army.

Lan said that most of the Terracotta Warriors showed signs of decay (腐化) after being buried for thousands of years, which was made     6     (bad) by oxidization (氧化) after they were discovered. The broken pieces, whose weight could sometimes reach hundreds of kilograms,     7     (make) the restoration both difficult and challenging. For Lan, the most challenging project was the restoration of a general,       8     took his team more than two years. Even so, Lan felt     9     (satisfy) with his job. “I hope that by restoring them, we are able to uncover historical facts     10     awaken the culture of Qin Dynasty.”