When it comes to intangible cultural heritage, China currently has 38 items on the UNESCO list.     1    , none of them are food-related.

    2     (make) it on the list, a candidate must have deep cultural and social meaning, UNESCO said. This is something Chinese cuisine is rich     3     .

Many important dates in China     4     (mark) with food. The Spring Festival celebrations, for example, kick off with a bowl of “eight treasure” congee (腊八粥) on the     5     (eight) day of the 12^th lunar month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

Apart from its symbolic festive meaning, Chinese cuisine shows     6     unique theory of health. While the West has a food pyramid, the philosophy of yin and yang can be found in most Chinese dishes.

In addition to health concerns, some Chinese dishes show great social     7     (function). Take the “four dishes and one soup” idea     8     an example. According to legend, the notion originated in the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang served a dinner of four dishes and one soup to officials to advise against extravagance (铺张浪费).

Although each plate of Chinese food contains years of ancestral wisdom, sometimes it’s beyond a     9     (foreign) understanding. In 2011, the China Cuisine Association made an application to put more than 30 Chinese foods and food preparation techniques on the UNESCO Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage items, but failed.

Now, the association is working on an     10     (improve) list of cuisine candidates to apply for UNESCO heritage status. And the result will be announced in November.

The latest technological advancement centering on the conversation at work, at school, and sometimes even at home, largely due     1     the emergence of chat-bots such as ChatGPT and Bard,     2     (be) Artificial Intelligence. These new conversational platforms use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help users find instant answers, get creations,     3     learn new things. They can chat with you and provide responses that can help you do things.

While most of the Internet agrees it’s not as good as a human at performing many tasks, the debate continues as to     4     AI has the power to replace certain jobs, or even spell the end of humankind. Of course, it brings undoubted benefits,     5     (depend) on how you use it.

    6     (give) it’s often described in science fiction films and novels as a world-ending technology that results in killer robots, the present     7     (real) is less dramatic. AI is defined as a type of computer technology that is concerned with making machines work in an intelligent manner, similar to how the human mind works.

    8     (actual), it means we can ‘train’ computers to learn, respond and make decisions, but it still requires the ability     9     (learn) from humans to get   anywhere near good enough. While Al is a hot topic right now, the idea has existed for decades. The latest chat-bots are a form of Artificial Intelligence     10     can analyze huge amounts of data and generate responses, though they need a little reminder.

The Grand Canal (大运河) is the oldest and longest man-made waterway in the world with a history of more than 2,500 years,     1     construction started in the Spring and Autumn Period. The 1794 kilometers’ waterway is 22 times     2     length of the Panama Canal. It is a golden waterway second only to the Yangtze River in China. The Grand Canal runs from Zhejiang to Beijing     3     (pass) through six provinces and two municipalities and connects five main river systems.

The canal functioned     4     the backbone of the ancient empire’s inland communication and trading systems. Grain, salt, log and silk were transported along the canal to all directions.     5     (dozen) of towns along the banks developed, contributing     6     (huge) to ancient China’s economy. The canal enormously promoted economic interaction and cultural exchange between the north     7     south, which ensured the country’s steady     8     (grow).

In 2014, it was listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. In 2019 China issued a plan     9     (construct) national cultural parks for the Grand Canal. Over the last two years, building the Grand Canal national cultural parks     10     (recognize) as a key task in the 14th Five-Year Plan. In the near future, cities along the Grand Canal will form a new cultural belt, green belt and tourism belt.

Valentine’s Day in China

It is really difficult to know the exact time    1     Western Valentine’s Day was introduced into China. However, Western Valentine’s Day is     2     (wide) celebrated in urban areas where there are a lot of commercial events, especially in big cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Valentine’s Day is not so popular in small towns, small     3     (city) and the countryside.  

So far, Chinese people    4     (accept) the tradition of Westerners’ celebrating Valentine’s Day, such as     5     (exchange) gifts, having a romantic dinner, watching a movie in the evening or even registering a marriage if Valentine’s Day falls on a workday.  

On this day, larger amounts of chocolate will be on sale in supermarkets,    6     compared with the case in the ordinary days, cinemas will be much     7     (busy) and the price of flowers can also be a lot higher. Many restaurants will have special menus, especially those in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai. If you want to have a smooth     8     (celebrate) on Valentine’s Day, remember     9     (make) reservations as far in advance as you can.  

Chinese people have also made some changes to the Western way of celebrating Valentine’s Day. For some couples, the husband may prepare a hearty dinner or buy a fancy gift     10     his wife on this day to show his gratitude.

When Lin Qiaozhi was 18 years old, she didn’t follow the     1     (tradition) path of marriage like the majority of girls. Instead, she chose to go to Peking Union Medical College,     2     she studied medicine and got the Wenhai Scholarship. And then she worked as a doctor in-the OB-GYN department of the PUMC Hospital. A few years later, she     3     (send) to study in Europe and then in the US. Her American friends wanted her to stay in the US,     4     he refused and told them she wanted to work for her motherland with great     5     (determine).

In 1941, Dr Lin became the first Chinese woman ever     6     (appoint) director of the OB-GYN department of the PUMC Hospital. After the department was closed because of the war, she opened her own clinic.

Dr Lin Qiaozhi played a key role in the medical field of our     7     (new) built country. Though she held many important positions, she still tended patients,     8     (publish) medical research on care for women and children, and trained the next generation of doctors.

Known     9     the “mother of ten thousand babies”, Lin Qiaozhi died on 22 April 1983,     10     (leave) her savings to a kindergarten and a fund for new doctors.

Fans of Chinese culture in Malta can now learn all about hanfu thanks to a new cultural platform     1    (name) the “Hanfu Costume Society” that was launched at the island's China Cultural Center on Friday.

“The platform     2     (expect) to promote cultural exchange between China and Malta and showcase the     3     (rich) of traditional culture.” Yuan Yuan, director of the China Cultural Center, said at the launch event.

Hanfu is known     4     its unique design and cultural significance. The historical form of dress has been rediscovered by young Chinese,     5     choose to wear it more and more.

Yu Cheng, who has lived in Malta for nearly five years, has decided to share her collection of hanfu whenever the China Cultural Center hosts     6     hanfu-themed activity. Her passion for traditional clothing led her to include styles     7     (date) back to the Western Han, the Tang, the Song, and the Ming Dynasties in her collection. Wearing hanfu has made her life more     8    (grace). When she goes out, she wears different outfits     9     (specific) designed for different occasions, unavoidably attracting admiration.

“Gradually, more and more people realize that traditional Chinese clothing is rich and beautiful,” she says. “I desire     10     (contribute) with my efforts to preserving traditional Chinese culture.”

The origin of facial makeup used in Peking Opera can go back to the Northern and Southern dynasties,    1     was a time when leading actors used to wear masks. As the operatic arts developed,    2     (performer) gradually took off their masks and painted colorful patterns on their faces instead, so people could better see    3     (they) facial expressions.

Chinese Opera facial makeup is a special makeup method with Chinese cultural characteristics.     4    painting technique for Chinese facial makeup in dramas is closely related to the character's personality. Over the past years of development, it     5       (become) an important part of Chinese culture.

There    6     (be) four roles in facial makeup, sheng, dan, jing, and chou. Chinese facial-makeup is     7     (extreme) stylized in the colors and patterns used, but no two painted faces are alike. For example, there are more than 100 face-painting styles     8     (design) for Xiang Yu, the hero in Farewell My Concubine, and each one is different. Various types of Chinese facial makeup let the audience able     9     (know) a character easily and get more involved     10     the appreciation of the performance.