【推荐1】Dunhuang is a historic(历史的) city in Gansu Province. In ancient times, Dunhuang was an important center of trade. As the Silk Road developed, Dunhuang became China’s western door to the world. Here, different cultures met and influenced each other. People from foreign countries did business and communicated with the local people.

If you visit Dunhuang, you will be able to see the Mogao Caves(莫高窟). If you walk inside, you will discover some of the wonderful art pieces. There are over 45, 000 square metres of beautiful paintings on the cave walls and thousands of statues(雕像).

Over the years, China has made great efforts to protect the Mogao Caves. Today, you can also find high-quality(高质量的) photos of the art pieces on the Internet. People all over the world now have a chance to see Dunhuang’s treasures online.

Since its creation in the 12th century, A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains (QianliJiangshan Tu) has become very popular with lots of people.

A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains is one of the best traditional Chinese paintings. Wang Ximeng is its painter. To people’s surprise, he finished this painting when he was only 18 years old. Unluckily, this painting is his only painting left.

This painting is a typical blue-green landscape painting (青绿山水画). In it, the painter used bright blues and greens to show China’s beautiful rivers and mountains. After more than 900 years, the colors are still as bright as new. The painting is about 12 meters long. It has six parts. The painter creatively linked (连接) each part with bridges and water.

The painting not only fully shows China’s natural beauty, but also shows harmony (和谐) between humans and nature. In the painting, there are fishing villages, houses, and people such as fishermen taking a boat in the river and sellers and buyers in a crowded market (市场). With his great skill in painting, the artist showed Chinese people’s love for life, their home and the country.

China is the second-largest cotton producer (生产地) in the world. Most of the cotton grows in Xinjiang. However, how much do you know about Xinjiang Cotton? Here are some facts about it.

Growing best cotton

Cotton needs lots of heat and sunshine. Xinjiang is such a good place to grow cotton. It has sunshine about 3, 000 hours every year. Xinjiang produces over 80 percent of China’s cotton. The most famous cotton in Xinjiang is long-stapled cotton (长绒棉).

Cotton harvest machines

Farmers first fly a drone (无人机) to give a kind of special water. It makes the cotton leaves fall. Next, it’s time to drive the machine. This big machine has a big “mouth” and sharp “teeth”. It “eats” while it walks. The big guy “lays eggs” then. At last, farmers can pick up the cotton.

Going to the cotton factory

After the harvest season, the fresh cotton goes to textile factories (纺织厂) nearby. There, the cotton is made into cloth and quilts. Both farmers and workers in the factories work comfortably under the environment.

Unknown things about cotton

In China, people mainly use cotton to make paper money. Most common cotton is white.

But in Xinjiang, there is colourful cotton. Cotton candy looks like cotton. But you can’t see any cotton in it at all!

Some     1     about Xinjiang Cotton

May Day, the first day of the month of May, is a special day. You may think it is International Workers’ Day and the beginning of your May Day holiday. For people from the West, May Day is also one of the biggest spring festivals. Many nations in Europe and North America celebrate it. And it is nothing new. In fact, it has to do with three even older festivals.

May Day comes from Floralia, Beltane and Walpurgis Night. The first was an old festival in Italy. It celebrated Flora, the Roman goddess (女神) of flowers. The second is still celebrated in Ireland and Scotland. It marks the beginning of summer. The third is usually celebrated in Northern Europe to welcome the coming of warm days, people gather to celebrate the arrival of spring.

Bonfires (篝火) are an important part of Beltane. People jump over them for good luck. In Northern Europe, people also light bonfires for Walpurgis Night. The bonfires keep them safe from bad things. Over time, these festivals helped make modern May Day.

Humans share the Earth with all kinds of wildlife and have lived in peace with them for thousands of years.

Many of our animal friends may not be around for much longer, however, and many of them are in great danger. According to a study, the populations of animals including mammals (哺乳动物), birds and fish have fallen by an average of 60 percent since 1970. What’s worse, a study in 2014 found that species (物种) are dying out 1,000 times faster than normal.

Sadly, it is because of humans that animals are in this situation now. By increasing human development, we may end up seriously harming the environment on which animals live and depend. Human development has caused pollution in oceans and three quarters of the world’s land to be affected (影响). The balance between animals and their ecosystems has been greatly harmed by humans.

Luckily, many people have realized that our action in fact does harm to animals, risking our own lives as a result, so effective steps have been quickly taken to save both these endangered animals as well as ourselves. The World Wildlife Fund has called on governments and businesses to protect nature. In China, many natural reserves (保护区) have been built up and harmful behavior such as selling rhino horns (犀牛角), tiger bones and ivory has been banned (禁止).

People have been taking steps in the right direction, which is encouraging news. The numbers of many animals have increased. The protection of animals still has a long way to go. In the end, to protect animals is to protect ourselves, and we should spare no effort toward living in harmony (和谐) with nature.