There is no denying that the hot pot is becoming increasingly popular in China. When it comes to the hot pot, we know that it has a long     1     of about 2,000 years. In the past, the hot pot was preferred in winter.     2    , recently it has been appearing on tables all year round.

Besides its delicious taste, there are two other important reasons for the Chinese to like the hot pot. The first one is that the hot pot is considered to be     3     great way to make new friends. People gather round the pot, chatting, eating, drinking and having fun. The     4     is that the hot pot is a “healthy meal”. Eating the hot pot can warm the body and improve circulation in winter and increase perspiration to help cool the body in summer.

There are several kinds of hot pot in China with different kinds of soup. Two of the most     5     hot pots are Chongqing hot pot and Guangdong hot pot. Chongqing hot pot is famous     6     its numbing and spicy (麻辣的) taste, due to the addition of a special food material—Chongqing pepper—and other spicy things like chili, which makes it different from other hot pots. Many people living in the south find     7       hard to accept the taste. Guangdong hot pot is regarded     8     the representative (代表) of the southern Chin hot pots. Seafood is its main part, and the soup is usually made from seafood. When you eat a hot pot in a restaurant, generally speaking, there are two types of soup bases: spicy and clear. A clear soup base has a quite mild taste which is made from seafood or meat bones. A spicy soup base usually has Chongqing pepper, which is spicy and numbing. If you have a mixed group with some     9     don’t eat spicy food, there is a special pot with a divider in the middle between the spicy and clear soup, which is     10     a double-flavor hot pot (鸳鸯锅).

All in all, the reason why the hot pot tastes very delicious is that it has rich nutrition of the multi-cultural elements.

Good things often come in small packages. This is exactly true in the case of miniature art (微型艺术), where, upon close observation, great things are often revealed. The National Gallery of London describes “an artist who paints in great details on a very small scale” as a miniaturist. The pieces that miniaturists create are called miniature art. Early examples can be dated back to c    1     ago in many places around the world. In India, tiny drawings were painted on to palm leaves 7.62 centimeters wide. A 12.5-milimeter-tall carving of a bird, d    2     in Lingjing, China, has been called China’s oldest work of art. The carving, about 13,500 years old, might be one of the world’s oldest pieces of miniature art.

Over the years, miniaturists have used many different m    3    , from paper to plant seeds, to create tiny paintings, sculptures and engravings of people, animals and scenery.

Two things are required of each artist: plenty of time and being patient to create miniature art. The pieces are so tiny that they need to be worked on carefully and slowly.

Though small, the pieces must be perfectly formed. Someone o    4     said, “A miniature must always be designed for close observation. It is meant to be held in the hand, watched closely and even to be looked at with a magnifying glass.” Tiny miniature paintings must be accomplished with such fine strokes (笔划) that when the piece is magnified, its amazing detail is enhanced. The same is true for miniature sculptures and all other forms of miniature art. Miniature art began to lose its a    5     in the 19th century when photography appeared. Over the last 30 years, though, miniatures have been made popular again. It is unlikely that miniature art will ever go away as long as people remain fascinated by tiny masterpieces.