The Ming City Wall Ruins Park, one of the best parks in Beijing,     1     (locate) in the central area of Beijing from Chongwenmen East Street to Dongbianmen.     2     (cover) a total area of about 15.5 hectares, the park     3     (consist) of 3.3 hectares of city wall ruins and the southeast corner tower, and 12.2 hectares of green space.

The Ming Dynasty City Wall from Dongbianmen to Chongwenmen is one of the only two remaining Ming Dynasty City Walls in Beijing.     4     (historic), the Ming Dynasty City Wall is 25 kilometers long and was first built in the 17th year of the Yongle Period of the Ming Dynasty (1419 AD), and has     5     history of over 580 years. The remaining relic,     6     is about 1.5 kilometers long, used to be part of the inner city wall of Beijing. It is the     7     (long) section of the city wall remains in the city, and an important symbol of Beijing.

Using a simple design, the park highlights the beauty of the     8     (ruin) city walls. The “Old Trees and Ming Walls”, “New Charm of Ancient Buildings” and other sceneries in the park have a long history and rich connotation (含义), showing the profound     9     (culture) accumulation of Chongwenmen, which adds endless imagination     10     people’s mind.

Long ago in Ancient China, there was a mythical figure     1     (know) as Shennong. Not only did Shennong bring agriculture and the use of herbal medicine to China, but he also invented     2     (agriculture) tools and techniques, and the Chinese calendar with its 24 solar terms.

It is said that the home town of Shennong was a forest in Hubei Province, which today is called “Shennongjia”. This beautiful and diverse region covers     3     area of 3,253 square kilometers of north-west Hubei Province. It gives shelter to over 1000 species of medicinal plants, many of     4     are rare and unique to Shennongjia. Here mountain slopes     5     (cover) with trees and some of them grow up to 40 meters tall. In summer, pink and violet flowers lend splashes of color. These are some of     6     (it) most breathtaking landscapes. The magnificent Shennong Peak rises to 3,105 meters above sea level.

Banbiyan is famous for its stone forest, as well as its bamboo forests and grasslands that flood with     7     (flower). The stone forests of Fengjingya stand     8     a background of green mountains that reaches as far as the eye can see. When it rains, the tops of these mountains look like islands     9     (float) on a sea of clouds. Come to Shennongjia     10     (enjoy) its beauty and the legend.

The Baiheliang Underwater Museum,     1    (build) around the White Crane Ridge (白鹤梁) of Fuling District in Chongqing, is China’s first underwater museum. The museum is located on the Yangtze River near the Three Gorges Dam; it opened on May 18, 2009. The    2    (construct) of the museum began in 2002.

Baiheliang has been submerged (淹没) underwater since    3     building of the Three Gorges Dam. It consists     4    a stone ridge that is 1, 600 meters by 15 meters in size, which is now submerged under about 40 meters of water. Before the Three Gorges Dam was built, the ridge was only submerged during the summer and fall. The ridge and the carvings on it were only exposed and     5    (clear) visible when the water level of the Yangtze River dropped during the winter. The inscriptions (题刻)     6    (record) water data about the Yangtze River from the Tang Dynasty onward as well as    7    (poem) written calligraphically could     8    (view) by visitors.

The ridge has now been enclosed in an arch-shaped glass covering    9     is filled with water to ensure equal pressure on both sides. Two underwater passages with long moving stairways have been fixed from the riverbank, enabling museum visitors     10    (enter) and view the inscriptions and fish carvings.

Jiuzhaigou is officially known as Jiuzhai Valley in English,     1    is a nature reserve in the north of Sichuan Province. It is known as the habitat of giant pandas although it is extremely hard to see a panda in the park and mainly for its many multi-level waterfalls    2    colorful lakes. It    3    (become) a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.

    4     (lie) 350 km north of Chengdu, Jiuzhai Valley offers    5     (impress) views of lakes, waterfalls, and mountains. The name means “Valley of Nine Villages”, coming from the 9 ancient Tibetan villages that call it home. Its     6    (high) point is 4,700 m above sea level, with the main sightseeing areas between 1,980 m and 3,100 m.

The park is the natural habitat for the giant panda and the Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey (金丝猴). However, because of the park’s size and    7    number of tourists, the chances    8     (see) them are slim. About 20 pandas reportedly live within the park.

For environmental protection reasons, no personal transport, not even bicycles,     9    (permit) within the park. However, with a bus pass you can take a bus to all of the sites within the park. Every few minutes a bus will come to a site to pick up the    10    (passenger).

In the heart of modern Beijing is the Forbidden City. It served as the political center of ancient China between 1420 and 1912 and now it is     1     world famous museum.

The Forbidden City     2     (build) by Emperor Yongle, the third Ming ruler,     3     moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijng in 1403. Sources say it took a million     4     (worker) to build it between 1406 and 1420. Legend has it that the Forbidden City was redesigned to have 9, 9991/2 rooms. Half a room is missing to avoid     5     (upset) the God of Heaven. The maincolors of the Forbidden City are yellow and red. The walls, doors, and windows were     6     (most) painted in red, a symbol of     7     (happy) in Chinese culture.

The English name “Forbidden City” is a translation of the Chinese name Zijincheng. In the past, it was forbidden to ordinary people and that is     8     the Forbidden City is so named. After the Qing Dynasty, it was made a     9     (nation) museum-the Palace Museum and was open to the public. As one of the world’s largest cultural museums, the Palace Museum holds more than a million rare and valuable works of art. So do find a chance     10     (visit) it some day!