When in Beijing, there are the obvious places one might think to visit first such as Forbidden City, Summer Palace and so on.All    1    (undoubted) are great choices with much to offer.    2    ,I would like to throw another suggestion into the mix. Zhihua Temple, meaning “temple of wisdom attained”, in my opinion, is the    3    (good)in the city. It was built in the Ming Dynasty in 1444.Reaching the temple’s entrance requires walking through a long way of butong,     4     is a great chance to see the everyday lives of the locals in the area. Once inside, visitors     5     (give)the opportunity to hear a performance of jing music, a style handed down over 27 generations of musicians. Within many of the temple’s structures    6     (be)ancient sculptures and artwork. There are also museum exhibitions with a series of     7     (photo)that let you see how the temple was before its restoration.

Every historical building in Beijing has something to offer and teach us, but Zhihua Temple provides    8    different flavor to stand shoulder     9     shoulder with the better-known locations in the capital and is surely worth     10    (explore)again.

My First Trip to Tibet

On the three hours’ flight from Xi’an to Lhasa, we had a wonderful time, talking and laughing all the way. The great views of the mountains below, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, got us     1    (excite). I couldn’t help taking some pictures.

Our plane landed     2    (safe) at Lhasa Airport at 11: 30 am. The airport is located at the sea-level of over 3500 metres, making it one of the     3    (high) airports in the world. From there you can fly to many big cities both home and abroad.

Leaving the airport, we took a bus to the city of Lhasa,     4     is 3600 meters above the sea level. Everybody felt a little bit uncomfortable, and some,     5    (include) me, even had     6     headache. What surprised us along the way was warm sunshine, blue sky and clear water. Mountains were everywhere, but no trees on them. The driver said if there were     7     (tree) on the mountains, the city of Lhasa would have more oxygen!

The tour guide     8     (arrange) for us to stay in a downtown hotel, mainly for two reasons – free internet access and domestic telephone. What’ s more, all the rooms were large     9     modern facilities and the famous Potala Palace was just within a stone’s throw. Lhasa was smaller than I had thought before. It took you about RMB 10     10    (take) a taxi in the downtown area.