Spring festival comes to an end. Here     1     (come) the lantern festival.The lantern festival can be dated back to Han dynasty. It is     2     the 15th day of the first lunar mouth.

Almost every     3     (tradition) festival in China comes with     4     (it) own food and the lantern festival is no exception. It is popular to have “yuanxiao” or “tangyuan”. It is a kind of dessert     5    (make) from glutinous rice, filled with black sesame, red bean paste or even meat fillings. In Chinese, tangyuann has a similar pronunciation with “tuanyuan”,     6     means reunion. Thus, having tangyuan denotes reunion, harmony and happiness for the family.

On the Lantern Festival night, the moon illuminates the dark sky while many lanterns shine bright colors on the earth. Lantern is the most notable part of the festival. Chinese craftsmen have made countless lanterns in different     7     (variety) such as Kongming lanterns, water lanterns. People used to join in lantern fairs in which they can watch lanterns, guess riddles and give their faithful prayers to decedents. In ancient China, unmarried woman couldn’t go out at will. Only at the lantern festival were they allowed     8     (go) to the lantern exhibition. That’s why ancient Chinese people considered the Lantern Festival as     9     occasion to look for a match or meet up with the beloved. Therefore, the lantern festival was     10     (actual) the real Chinese valentine’s day.

Chinese brush calligraphy is one of the most important art forms in China.

The origin of Chinese brush calligraphy is unknown, but local     1     (tale)say it goes back over 4,000 years to the time of the legendary (传说的) Yellow Emperor. At that time characters     2     (carve) on animal bones or tortoise shells. Only after Emperor Qinshihuang unified China     3    his rule did it really gain in popularity as a common art form. Qinshihuang set regular rules for Chinese characters,     4     (make) it easier for people to learn. This Chinese art form continued to progress and during the Tang Dynasty (618 AD-907 AD)     5     new type of the cursive script (草书) was formed. It is written freely, but it’s not easy    6     (read).

Today Chinese brush calligraphy is once again a subject in schools and an art form highly    7     (appreciate) across the world. Anyone can practise it and     8    is required is a simple set including a brush, ink     9    paper. Practising this art     10     (consistent) can develop personal character and is of great benefit to health.

A traditional Chinese dance performed underwater in Luoyang, Central China’s Henan Province,     1     (go) viral on social media during the Dragon Boat Festival. The show led to renewed passion among audiences for traditional Chinese art and culture.

The     2     (impress) dance is named The Prayer, which was the opening performance of the gala (盛会) by Henan Television Station on Saturday. In the video on social media the underwater actress is seen dancing     3     colorful traditional Chinese costume. The short dance,     4     (last) less than two minutes, was seen as a     5     (combine) of contemporary art and traditional Chinese culture.

“The water made the costume even more lovely and the moves     6     (graceful)!” said one observer online. Netizens were left     7     (amaze) by both the beauty of the dancer and the creativity of the dance underwater. The dance featured a character from     8     famous ancient Chinese painting Ode to Goddess Luo, the daughter of a sacred king character Fu Xi in a Chinese tale who drowned     9     then became a goddess.

“The moves were captured underwater at 4.5 meters from the ground. The team spent a total of 26 hours underwater     10     (complete) the shooting (拍摄). The film team had to soak (浸泡) themselves in the water in each shooting session,” Chen Jia, director of the HNTV gala, said to local media.

Yours,

Li Hua

Long Chenchen, the mascot for China’s upcoming Dragon Spring Festival Gala,     1     (release) recently, with a lot of design details showing the aesthetics of Chinese cultural elements.

    2     (celebrate) the year 2024, “Long Chenchen” has been designed as a cute yet lively dragon, colored orange and red and with a pair of doll eyes. The     3     (seem) cute-looking dragon takes inspiration from Chinese archaeological discoveries. The design of its nose was inspired by a dragon-shaped jade item that was discovered in the Erlitou Ruins,     4     major site in Luoyang, Central China’s Henan province that witnessed the rise and fall of the Xia and Shang dynasties. The fire shape pattern on its shoulder was inspired by a bronze piece with cloud patterns dating back to the Spring and Autumn Period,     5     multiple materials appeared and social changes were underway.

    6     receiving many likes, the mascot has also sparked criticism. Some netizen doubt the dragon character might have been synthesized (合成) by artificial intelligence.     7     (admit) that it has some “imperfections”, CMG, a design studio said it was created by designers “one stroke after another” and that “all the details about the dragon, including its patterns, colors and face, have been revised by designers through a lot of versions.”

Along with such verbal     8     (explain), a short video showing the design team working on the mascot has been posted on Sina Weibo by CMG. The media group’s response to the character’s design has become a     9     (trend) topic on Sina Weibo and has been viewed by more than 200 million netizen. “    10     it was created by AI or human beings, I think the mascot has successfully delivered the spirit of the dragon.” one netizen posted on Sina Weibo.