Do you like animals? Do you know that there is a kind of exercise (锻炼) related to (与……相关) animals? It’s called Five-animal Exercises or Wu Qin Xi. It was created (创造) by Hua Tuo about 2000 years ago. People learn from animals and help their bodies work better.

The tiger exercise does good to the liver (肝). The bear exercise helps people with digestion (消化). The monkey exercise helps the heart (心) to work well. The deer (鹿) exercise is good for kidney (肾). The crane (鹤) exercise is good for the lung (肺).

Some people think that Wu Qin Xi helps them to live a long life.

China has a history of using incense (熏香). Chinese people love incense and know how to make it. Different kinds of Chinese herbal medicines (草药)     1     (选择) by ancient Chinese to make incense, because incense could clean the air and keep people’s mind clear.

As early as the pre-Qin     2     (时期), people all liked burning incense to wish for a better life. Later, it was found that incense could be used to drive away little     3     (动物). As time went on, people in ancient times made good use of incense in     4     (其他的) ways. It was a     5     (真正地) important tool to tell the time. For example, people would light a stick of incense to calculate the time of an exam. When it burned out, the exam was     6    . What’s more, incense in the s     7     of balls would be put in a special bag. When people h    8     it, the smell of clothes covering the bag also smelt     9     (极好的).

Incense can also be used to improve people’s health. When you feel stressed or nervous, the pleasant smell can keep you     10     (放松的). And lots of Chinese believe that they could rest well with the help of these beautiful things that smell good.

Incense brings out the wisdom of the mind and silently harmonizes (协调) the mind and body.

5 .

Chinese culture has great attraction for people both at home and abroad. We have seen many people from around the world express their love for Chinese culture in different forms. A growing number of foreigners have even chosen to live in China for its culture.

Interested in Chinese classical literature, Canadian artist Brandon Collins-Green or Lin Buran in Chinese expresses his understanding of A Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin and Chinese poems through thousands of paintings. Often painting throughout the night, he has created more than 4,200 works. Living alone in the center of Nanchang, he has come a long way since he first came here in 2015 to study ancient Chinese literature.

Brandon loves learning about the lifestyle of ancient Chinese people. “So far, I have read the novel three times, translated most of its poems, songs, lantern riddles (谜语), and dialogues into English, and completed over 1 million words of articles and 2,000 related paintings during my PhD studies,” said Brandon with pride and satisfaction.

Timur Kuvatov, director-general and editor-in-chief of the Kazakhstan Today News Agency, is a Chinese kung fu fan. He has won kung fu championships a lot of times and also served as a coach for the Kazakhstan kung fu team. “Chinese kung fu is a treasure of Chinese culture. It is not just a sport but also reflects the Chinese way of dealing with people, their understanding of life, nature, and the world,” he said.

Vincent Cazeneuve, known as Wensen Qi in Chinese, is a French artist devoted to lacquer (漆器) creation. He came to live in Chongqing in 2009. His works have been shown in art institutions both in and outside of China, and his fans have even collected some of them.

What is the charm of Chinese culture that attracts these people? It lies in its richness and openness. Also its cultural background differences make foreigners curious about the lifestyles, way of thinking, and values of the country.

7 .

Ma Jilin is 78 years old. He lives in Deqing County, 50 kilometers from Hangzhou. He is a good bamboo weaver (编织者). He carefully studied the QR code (二维码) and made a QR code with bamboo. Scan (扫描) the bamboo QR code, and you can join in the online torch relay (火炬传递) of the Asian Games.

The first QR code didn’t work well, Ma said, so he had to make another one. He said that the bamboo strips (条) can’t be too thick or too thin, and they must be very neat (整齐的).

“We must do something for the Asian Games,” Ma said.

Ma Jilin came from a family of bamboo weavers. Ma’s grandfather, once opened a shop in the town, making bamboo baskets, farming tools and other products (产品). He was known for his good products.

After Ma Jilin retired (退休) from the factory, he tried his best to study bamboo weaving and made a lot of new and different woven bamboo products.

“Bamboo weaving is an important part of our cultural heritage (文化遗产),” Ma said. “We must stop this traditional skill from going away.”

Firecrackers (爆竹), known as Baozhu in Chinese have been used for centuries in many celebrations. They are a(n)     1     part of Chinese folk culture.

Firecrackers have experienced a long period of improvement. In ancient China, firecrackers were made from bamboo. That’s because the bamboo bangs (爆炸) loudly     2     it is burned. In the Tang Dynasty, an inventor called Li Tian was the first to fill bamboo     3     powder (火药) to make louder bangs. This     4     won him the name of “Chinese Father of Fireworks”. Then by the Song Dynasty, bamboo was replaced by paper. And the firecrackers were connected together, which allowed for even louder     5     longer-lasting bangs.

Ancient people used firecrackers to scare away bad spirits with     6     loud sounds. And they believed that lighting firecrackers would     7     them good luck in the coming new year.

Nowadays, the use of firecrackers is still a     8     during many Chinese festivals. One of the main reasons is that firecrackers     9     the festivals with joyful sounds. They are still seen as a     10     of joy and happiness in the modern times. It’s likely that Chinese people will always keep this tradition alive.

China is well-known for tea both in the past and now. Tea has been welcomed by the whole world as a great cultural treasure of mankind.

It’s said that Shen Nong was the     1     to discover tea as a drink. Tea is planted in many areas, and Hangzhou is     2     known for its tea. People enjoy different kinds of tea,     3     green tea, black tea and oolong tea. Tea customs have influenced the world    4     the ancient Silk Road.

Our daily life is filled with tea. Tea     5     in teahouses, restaurants and other places.