3 . When the first person looked up to the sky, people’s imagination of space began. In China, there are many stories about the exploration (探索) of space.

Thousands of years ago, there was a lady named Chang’e that flew to the Moon and lived there with a rabbit. It’s just a story in myths (神话). In the Ming Dynasty, a man named Wan Hu used a machine which was made of a chair, some fireworks and a kite as a rocket to fly to space but failed. He was considered as the first human that tried to explore space.

Our exploration of space never stopped until it became a reality in modern times. Without doubt, Chinese space technology has made great progress.

In 2003, when Shenzhou V set off successfully, Yang Liwei’s words “I am proud of our motherland” brought tears to our eyes. Carrying the flying dream of the Chinese nation for thousands of years, as the first space visitor of China, he started the Space Age for the Chinese.

In 2008, Zhai Zhigang in Shenzhou VII had the first Chinese space walk, “I am out of the capsule (太空舱), and I feel good,” he told the world proudly.

In the next years, China kept making its way in order to step further on exploring space. Especially in the recent years, China has sent up Shenzhou XI and Shenzhou XV. Six astronauts have been sent to space with two women included. On May 30, 2023, Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao in Shenzhou XVI were sent into space successfully.

From 2003 to 2023, Chinese people go farther and farther in space. In the near future, China will send astronauts to the Moon and explore the Moon.