Today I am     1     (extreme) happy to share Chinese landscape painting with you.

Chinese landscape painting can     2     (consider) as one of dazzling art forms. The Chinese term for “landscape” is made up of two characters     3     (mean) mountains and water. It is linked with the philosophy of Daoism,     4     emphasizes harmony with the natural world. When Chinese landscape painters work on their paintings, they do not attempt     5     (present) an image of what they have seen in nature, but what they have thought about nature. Chinese landscape painters use the same materials and essential techniques     6     calligraphers, and their works are judged by the same criteria. Chinese landscape painting involves a complex set of     7     (require) for balance, composition, and arrangements. Chinese elemental theory, which includes five elements representing     8     mass of parts of the natural world, is used to determine the use of colors and the placement of elements in the paintings.

Chinese landscape painting is so     9     (appeal) that you should give     10     a go yourself!

6 . On January 17, the “Chinese Bridge” Cultural Experience & Exchange Programme kicked off at Chongqing Bashu Secondary School. International students will attend Humanities, Languages, Cultures Winter Camp online during the next week. “Chinese Bridge” is a large- scale programme for international Chinese language education sponsored by the Centre for Language Education and Cooperation. Since its launching in 2002, “Chinese Bridge” has been serving as a vital platform for Chinese language learning, understanding of China, and Chinese culture experiencing and a bridge connecting Chinese and foreign young people.

Aside from Chinese language courses, the Programme also opens courses on tea culture, Tai Chi, calligraphy, and illustration painting and holds lectures on Bayu culture. Chinese students and international students in Chongqing will be invited to share their studies and life in this city. As a result, they can help promote Chinese culture, assist attendees of the Programme in understanding China’s developments, build friendships with the attendees, and draw more international students to study in the country.

“Chongqing is attracting foreign students to study in China, more than just sending Chinese students to study abroad. It has turned into a cultural pioneer from an inheritor (继承人). Becoming the programme host proves that Chongqing has made remarkable achievements in international cooperation and educational reform,” said Li Bin, Director of International Cooperation and Exchange Division, Chongqing Municipal Education Commission.

At the end of the first day of the winter camp, students shared how they felt. Hellen from Altai State University in Russia said with excitement, “I love the Chinese classical dance and instrument performances! But my favourite is the chorus, which is said to be the theme song of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. It is so beautiful, and I will learn to sing it.” Jac, a Chinese language teacher from KCE International School Cambodia, praised the adequate preparation by the Bashu Secondary School, and said it would be a fun and valuable learning experience for students.

Probably as the most famous rabbit character in the 2023 Spring Festival Gala, Tu Yuanyuan made     1     (it) first public appearance in Beijing on January 8.

The chief director of the 2023 Spring Festival Gala showed the image design of Tu Yuanyuan was inspired from the digital recreation of the fossil of an ancient rabbit     2     was believed to exist in Anhui Province around 62 million years ago. The design of the image was created     3     many reasons, varying from the big data investigation to     4     (display) the traditional aesthetics (美学) and highlighting the achievements of Chinese scientists.

    5     (host) by China International Television Corporation together with China Television Industrial Group Co. Ltd. , a promotional event to release a series of cultural and creative products about Tu Yuanyuan     6     (hold) in downtown Beijing in December,2022.

As a centuries-old tradition,     7     is often bought for Chinese children is the lantern during the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival. Tu Tuantuan was designed as a red-haired rabbit role decorated by trademark     8     (pattern) found on most clay sculptures in Fengxiang, Shaanxi Province.

More     9     (interesting), tuan and yuan could be read together to mean reunion, representing that Chinese people are expecting     10     (reunite) with their long-time-no-see family members and relatives at their hometowns.

8 . The Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania live a life that has not changed much over ten thousand years. They have no crops, no house animals, no permanent shelters. In spite of long exposure to agriculturalist groups around them, the Hadza have maintained their lifestyle.

The story of the spread of agriculture is the story of growing population density (密度). Villages formed, then cities, then nations. Agriculture’s rise, however, came with a price. It introduced infectious diseases, social inequality, occasional famines (饥荒) and war. Professor Jared Diamond of UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) has called the adoption of agriculture “the worst mistake in human history”— a mistake from which we have never recovered.

Looking at the Hadza, you can see why he came to this conclusion. They do not engage in warfare. They do not live densely (稠密地) enough to be threatened by an infectious outbreak. They have no known history of famine (饥荒). The Hadza diet is more stable (稳定 的) and varied than that of most of the world’s citizens. They live almost entirely free of possessions. They enjoy an extraordinary amount of leisure time, “working” — actively pursuing food — only four to six hours a day.

The chief reason the Hadza have been able to maintain their lifestyle so long is that their homeland is not an inviting place. Recently, however, population growth has brought a flood of people into Hadza lands. The region has generally been viewed by outsiders as unused, a Place in need of development. The Hadza, who by nature are not a combative (好战的) people, have almost always moved away instead of fighting.

There are many things to envy about the Hadza, mostly what free spirits they appear to be. Free from schedules, jobs, bosses, bills, traffic, taxes, laws, social duties and money. But who of us could live like them? It’s incredibly risky. Medical help is far away. One bad fall from a tree, one bite from a snake, and you’re dead. The fact is that it’s too late for us to go back to the Hadza lifestyle. Of greater concern is that soon it may be impossible for them to maintain theirs.

Gaodang Village is a Buyi Ancient Village of one thousand years     1    (locate) in Anshun City, Guizhou Province. The preservation project of Gaodang village recently earned a special mention at the Architizer A⁺ Award.

In the past several years, Gaodang Village     2    (face) problems including ecological degradation, disorderly construction, low housing quality, especially the young going out    3    the built heritage being forgotten.

    4    response to the challenges, an architecture design project, along with a field research,    5    (start) by the Anshun Architectural Design Institute and Zhou Zhengxu’s team from Tsinghua University in 2015. After seven years of efforts, they    6    (successful) established a traditional village and rural revitalization (振兴)station    7     (promote) the development of Gaodang village.

The project also won the 2021 Landscape Architecture Award. The Architizer A⁺ Award is one of the world’s most established architecture     8    (award). It promotes and rewards the best architecture and product designs every year, aiming to raise public    9    (aware) of excellent architecture and increase architectures’ positive influence on daily life. Now Gaodang is     10    good example that has been achieving sustainable development in ecology, economy, culture, and other fields, and is now on the way to rural revitalization.