1 .

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed (提议) the initiatives (倡议) of jointly building a Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which became known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, “一带一路”倡议). Since then the BRI has gone through a long journey of growth. This year marks its 10th anniversary (周年纪念) of the BRI. 

As the BRI continues to bring the world together, young people from the Belt and Road countries see how it continues to develop and have a deeper understanding of it.

Lashyn Zeiin, a Kazakh (哈萨克的) student at Nazarbayev University, said that in 2013 she visited China. “To me, it was an amazing new world with beautiful landscapes and dynamic (多元的) cultures,” she said. She then decided to continue learning Chinese.

Thandi Mtsetwene, 22, from South Africa, said that now South African people are arguing how the country’s future will benefit from economic interdependence (经济上的相互依赖) brought by the BRI. “I am in support of a win-win relationship brought by the BRI, which also widens and deepens the connections all over the world,” she added.

In fact, the BRI has brought about great changes to the Belt and Road countries. 

Temelidi Yulia from Russia said that the BRI has encouraged cultural exchanges between her country and the rest of the world. For example, “China and Russia both invite guests from each other to perform (展示) their own culture. In this way, people in these two countries can understand each other’s culture,” said Yulia.

Kairat Bekmurzayev from Kazakhstan grew up in a small town that is 35 km away from the border (边境) with China. When he was little, Bekmurzayev always waited for his father who worked in China to bring candies and new toys. 

But now, he can enjoy the childhood joy all the time. He said that thanks to the BRI, an international center for cross-border cooperation (合作) was set up. “The center helped many people to improve their way of life. They made new houses, schools and also built roads,” said Bekmurzayev.

2 . Many people love Chinese silk (丝绸). It has bright colors and it ________ soft and comfortable, so people prefer to make clothes with it.

The history of silk in China began more than 5, 000 years ago. Silk was ________ in ancient China. Wearing silk was a symbol of being rich. At first, only ________ of the king’s family could wear silk.

Silk was also popular ________ foreign people. The Chinese kings used to keep how to make silk a ________, so people in other countries had to pay a lot of money for it. The secret of silk making was kept ______ until 200 B.C. There were no cars or planes 2,000 years ago, so people used to buy or ________ all kinds of goods along a road between China and Europe. It’s called the Silk Road because most of the goods going on the road were made of silk. The road was 8,000 km long. It was ________ a long way to go and it was not easy.

The Silk Road is very important to both China and the rest of the world, either in the past or the ________. It once played the role as the land bridge between the East and the West. Today, China and five other Asian ________ want the road to be on the World Cultural Heritage list (文化遗产名录), so they are working together to make their dream come true.

7 . China’s actress Dilraba’s fantastic dance performance in Croatia (克罗地亚) attracted viewers both at home and abroad. Through her, the world can see the shining confidence of young Chinese people as well as the beautiful Chinese culture.

Dilraba travelled to Croatia with a reality show “Divas Hit the Road”. When the host asked her to describe the dress that she was wearing, Dilraba said it is a beautiful Etles dress from Xinjiang, China. Etles silk is regarded as the cultural mixture between China and the neighboring countries.

The video which shows Dilraba performing Xinjiang dance has been widely spread online. And it was reported by many Chinese diplomats (外交官) and got many likes abroad. “Dilraba, wearing Chinese Xinjiang clothing and dancing Xinjiang dance,” Wang Wenbin, a spokesman from the Chinese Foreign Ministry wrote while reporting the video on social media.

Earlier, the reality show took Dilraba along with a number of guests to Saudi Arabia (沙特阿拉伯). After the tour in Saudi Arabia was shown on social media, and the huge effect of the program also raised the global viewers’ strong interest in Silk Road culture.

The program is designed to travel across the Eurasian continent for 28 days, going through three countries, Saudi Arabia, Croatia and Iceland, enjoying the beautiful scenery and different cultures of different countries, visiting and understanding many joint projects under the “Belt and Road” initiative (“一带一路”倡议).

8 . Building Bridges between Nations

① In 2013, China proposed (提议) the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, “一带一路”倡议). It’s the 10th anniversary (周年) of the BRI this year. More than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations have taken part in it. People from the Belt and Road countries have a deeper understanding of it.

② Many young people from other countries stand by the idea of the BRI. Lashyn, a Kazakh (哈萨克的) student at Nazarbayev University, said that in 2013 she visited China. “To me, it was an amazing new world with different cultures.” So she decided to continue learning Chinese. Thandi, 22, from South Africa, said that the BRI helped improve relationships between countries all over the world. “I support a win-win relationship of the BRI,” she told China Daily.

③ Great changes happen in the Belt and Road countries. Kairat from Kazakhstan (哈萨克斯坦) grew up in a small town 35 km away from the border (边境) with China. When he was little,he always waited for his father who worked in China to bring candies and new toys. “The center helped many people to improve the way of life. They built new houses, schools and also developed roads. That makes our life easier,” said Kairat.

④ The BRI also brings changes to China. Wang Zongnan, a student in Tsinghua University, notices that recently there are more and more people from the Belt and Road countries coming to China as international students. He said, “That really changed how we look at questions and social problems.”

⑤ The BRI covers almost all parts of people’s lives, including travel, trade, education, technology and culture. Like a bridge, it continues to bring the world closer than ever.

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D．

On May 18th, 2023, the China-Central Asia Summit (中国—中亚峰会) was held in Xi’an. President Xi Jinping made a speech on “the Belt and Road Initiative (倡议)”. It has been 10 years since President Xi announced the initiative.

The great initiative has offered the chances to do business between countries. It helps products from other countries enter Chinese market. At the same time, all kinds of products made in China are sold to other countries, too. It leads to a win-win situation. Besides international trade, China has built plenty of high-speed railways for neighboring countries. The China-Laos Railway (中老铁路) is a typical project of the Belt and Road Initiative. It is more convenient to send products to Laos and visit Laos for the Chinese.

The Belt and Road Initiative is based on the ancient Silk Road. However, it is very different. It focuses on the Asian, European and African countries, and is also open to all the other countries. It’s not only the name of trade roads but also a bridge of culture between China and many other countries. China also works more closely with the countries in languages, science and education. There is even a Silk Route Museum in Jiuquan, China. It has over 30,000 objects from all along the Silk Road.

10 .

China’s actress (女演员) Dilraba’s fantastic dance performance in Croatia (克罗地亚) attracted viewers (观众) in China and foreign countries. Through her, the world can see the shining confidence of young Chinese people as well as the beautiful Chinese culture.

Dilraba travelled to Croatia with a reality show “Divas Hit the Road”. When the host asked her to describe the dress that she was wearing, Dilraba said it is a beautiful Etles dress from Xinjiang, China. People think Etles silk is the cultural mixture between China and the neighboring countries.

The video which shows Dilraba performing Xinjiang dance has been widely spread online. And it was reposted by many Chinese diplomats (外交官) and got many likes abroad. “Dilraba, wearing Chinese Xinjiang clothing and dancing Xinjiang dance,” Wang Wenbin, a spokesman from the Chinese Foreign Ministry wrote while reposting the video on social media.

Earlier, the reality show took Dilraba along with a number of guests (嘉宾) to Saudi Arabia (沙特阿拉伯). After the tour in Saudi Arabia was shown on social media, more and more viewers all over the world showed a strong interest in Silk Road culture.

The program is designed to travel across the Eurasian continent for 28 days, going through three countries, Saudi Arabia, Croatia and Iceland, enjoying the beautiful scenery and different cultures of different countries, visiting and understanding many joint projects under the “Belt and Road” initiative (“一带一路”倡议).