Recently, Guangzhou has successfully hosted the “Understanding China” International Conference 2023, the 5th World Media Summit, and other significant events, once again highlighting its role as    1    window for the world to comprehend China’s high-quality development. So,     2    Guangzhou? Let’s find out.

    3    (gain) a deeper understanding of China, one must experience its history and culture. With a history of over 2, 000 years and a rich cultural heritage, Guangzhou offers a variety of historical and cultural    4    (treasure). In this city, you can sip a cup of coffee while watching Cantonese opera in Yongqingfang or taste Cantonese dim sum while gazing at Western-style architecture on Shamian Island.

Economy is another crucial aspect in understanding China. In recent years, Guangzhou has    5    (active) participated in the Belt and Road international cooperation, gradually    6     (establish) a comprehensive, multi-level, and wide-ranging pattern of opening-up. As a thousand-year-old commercial city known for the Canton Fair, Guangzhou has drawn    7    (globe) attention with its open genes and prosperous economy.

Connecting with the world also requires a highly    8    (develop) transportation network. Guangzhou has constructed a modern three-dimensional transportation system that links airports, seaports, railway ports, and digital ports, providing easy access    9    both domestic and foreign participants.

Guangzhou’s openness, inclusiveness, vitality, and innovative spirit make it an ideal choice for hosting international events, which, in turn,     10     (help) the economic and social development of the city.

Known as the “Ice Cream Cathedral”, Coppelia is one of the largest ice cream stores in the world.     1     (locate) in Havana, it serves over 30,000 customers per day.

Coppelia consists     2     a two-story building, outside which people queue for ice cream every single day, and a park with hundreds of tables where 1,000 people can enjoy the frozen treats at a time. Originally, Coppelia     3     (build) in a project led by Fidel Castro. He reportedly ordered ice cream from American producer Howard Johnson, and upon tasting it decided to create something bigger and better. His idea was     4     huge hit, and to this day thousands of people continue to enjoy ice cream at Coppelia Park.

Coppelia     5     (be) a major city landmark for both locals and visitors since its opening. But it got more attention when it was featured in one of the most     6     (wide) viewed Cuban Strawberry and Chocolate.

Even today, Coppelia remains extremely popular in Havana. It’s the place     7     most children celebrate their birthdays and many couples go on first dates. It’s also one of Havana’s main tourist     8     (attract). And for about 5 Cuban pesos per scoop, Coppelia’s ice cream is worth     9     (taste). Some visitors even say that Coppelia is serving the best ice cream in the world.

Cubans can be some of the most talkative people in the world,     10     all talks end once they’re seated with ice cream in Coppelia. Conversation at the shared tables is very quiet, with voices hardly heard.

The Qiaoxi Historical and Cultural Block in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, is perfect for visitors     1     (experience) China’s rich culture. The area is known     2     “Qiaoxi,” which means to the west of a bridge. Because its     3     (locate) is on the western side of Hangzhou’s famous Gongchen Bridge, an ancient structure     4     (lay) across the Grand Canal.

Once a busy market for local trade in ancient times and     5     industrial area in modern times, the Qiaoxi Block has now become a tourism district. Visitors can enjoy Chinese culture up close through a blend (混合) of     6     (tradition) business trade, scenic spots and residential areas. It is also a place     7     several museums meet together, including the China Knives, Scissors and Swords Museum, the China Umbrella Museum, and the China Fan Museum and so on.

    8     (walk) along the street, visitors can encounter street performances featuring local folk arts, or take their children to a Chinese medicine workshop,     9     try their hand at gaining cultural heritage skills at the Handicraft Dynamic Museum.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal     10     (list) on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014, where the two heritage sites of the Gongchen Bridge and the Qiaoxi Historical and Cultural Block were included in the project as well.

7 . The Grand Canal, a large waterway that first connected north and south China over 1400 years ago, is shorter than it once was, but it is still the longest man-made river in the world.

The original Canal system began around the year 605. China’s emperor realized that he needed a better way to feed his army. Specifically, he needed a way to move food quickly from China’s southern rice-growing region to the country’s north. Thus, he spent 6 years on construction of the first section of the Grand Canal, connecting existing canals, lakes and rivers. However, by 1127, parts had begun to worsen. In 1279, Kublai Khan began to repair and create a more direct north-south route to and from Beijing.

The Grand Canal was also an important cultural channel. Soldiers, merchants and artists transported ideas, regional foods and cultural practices from one part of China to another. It is said that Peking duck and the Pecking opera were both brought north via the canal. Even today, the country’s watery highway plays an important economic role in China. In addition, local governments, eager to increase tourism and real estate (房地产) development, are beautifying areas along the Canal.

This development comes at a price, though. In Yangzhou, the city government has torn down almost all of the older Canal-side buildings. Farther south in the cities of Zhenjiang, Wuxi and Hangzhou, the situation is similar. “Traditionally, we talk about eighteen main cities on the Grand Canal, and each had something unique and special about it.” explains Zhou Xihua, the director of the Grand Canal museum. “But now many of these cities are all the same: a thousand people with one face.”

In 2005 a group of citizens proposed that the historic Grand Canal be made a UNESCO world heritage site. The status would protect both the waterway and architecture around it. “Every generation wants the next generation to understand it, to look at its monuments.” said Zhu Bingren, an artist who cowrote this proposal. UNESCO status was officially granted in 2014. The hope now is that the grand Canal, one of the world’s great engineering accomplishments, will continue to link north and south China for centuries to come.

Ink as one of the Four Treasures of the Study (brush, ink, paper and inkstone), is a    1     (necessary) in Chinese painting and calligraphy. Ink is     2     (typical) produced from an ink stick with a little water. Ink stick, the solid form of ink, can last much longer than the liquid variety and is easier     3     (transport). The most famous ink sticks in China are the Hui Ink Sticks produced in Anhui Province. The Hui Ink Sticks use pine wood     4     its main raw ingredient,     5     is then mixed with another about 20 different materials. The manufacturing procedure includes lighting the smoke, blending the materials together, pressing the ink sticks, drying by airing, filling the margin     6     boxing them up. The ink produced from these sticks is shiny black. For centuries, the Hui Ink Sticks     7     (produce) through the traditional methods.     8     simple and single, ink sticks are essential in Chinese calligraphy and painting,     9     (present) the splendid artistic conceptions to people. What’s more, ink sticks make it possible that modern people today still can appreciate the masterpieces     10     (create) tens of centuries ago.

In June 1992, four farmers near the village of Shiyanbei in Zhejiang Province, China, made a(n)     1     (amaze) discovery. When they drained several ponds (排干几个池塘) on their land, they uncovered a secret     2     (hide) under the water’s surface. Five large man-made caves appeared, leading to the discovery of 19 more caves nearby. These caves     3     (know) as the Longyou Caves.

    4     (strange), the caves were not documented in any writings of the period. Following many studies since the caves were first found, caves scientists have tried to put forward explanations of the true purpose behind their     5     (create). But so far none have agreed. Artifacts (人工制品) within were discovered to be from the period 91 to 48 BCE,     6     makes the caves over 2,000 years old. The caves are     7     shockingly good shape after centuries of floods. Interestingly, the caves are of different     8     (size). Some are over 100 feet wide with vaulted ceilings (拱形天花板), supported by stone columns (柱). Others are much     9     (small).

Today, five of the caves are open to tourists, inviting them to experience the great wonders of     10     past.