1 . Tea originated in China over two thousand years ago. Today, the country owns over 2,000 varieties of tea, differing in taste, sweet and purpose. Some teas, such as Huang Shan, refresh the sense of taste with their special flavor, while others, such as spicy chai, are added with spices (香料) .

China first started exporting tea during the Ming dynasty (1368—1644), and the drink has since come to lead humanity’s drinking habits far beyond Asia. It is the most widely consumed drink on Earth today, aside from water and coffee.

In Chinese mythology, tea was first discovered by Chinese Emperor Shennong (“Divine Farmer”) in 737BC， when a soft wind carried some leaves into a pot of boiling water. However, the oldest dependable evidence comes from ancient plant remains found in 2016 in Xi’an and western Tibet, showing that tea was grown at least 2,100 years ago during the Western Handy nasty when it was most likely used as medicine.

Generation after generation of tea makers experimented with different brewing (冲泡) techniques, leaves, and ceremonies, resulting in today’s tea culture full of life. There’s no doubt that China’s tea culture has become one of the most popular, diverse, and unique traditions in the world.

China is already the world’s largest tea exporter. The inclusion of the country’s traditional tea-making process on the UNESCO list will obviously generate practical benefits for tea makers in the country and across the world as more resources are given to protect and preserve such millennia-old tea culture and technical practices. As additional attention is brought to this traditional technique, the Chinese tea sector will further tap its potential and improve its growth.

As one of China’s oldest cultural practices, traditional tea processing techniques show the spirit of modesty (谦逊), peace, and comity (礼让). No matter your preference for green or dark tea, with milk or without, Chinese tea isn’t just brews. Instead, it is a bridge connecting different cultures and peoples.

2 . 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.

The first Buy Nothing Day    1    (celebrate) in September 1992. In1997, it was changed to the Friday following Thanksgiving in November. Soon after, it gained    2    support of Adbusters, a Canadian media company questioning the    3    (important) that cultures give to advertising and shopping. When the group tried to place commercials(广告) on television, the only major TV network     4    accepted them was CNN. Despite these attempts to silence the movement, it spread to the US, Germany, Japan, and several other countries worldwide.

Buy Nothing Day challenges people to avoid    5    (buy) anything for 24 hours. Supporters hope that during this time, people will reflect on the need to “have things”, which is pushed by large companies. By getting people to focus on what they do have, they can become more sympathetic(有同情心的) towards the poor     6    people who have less than they do.

Another activity    7    (call) the zombie walk is to show the way most people shop. In this walk, participants walk around shopping malls like zombies. If anyone asks them what’s happening, they    8    (educate) them about Buy Nothing Day. Whirl-Mart is another funny method of drawing attention to the purpose of Buy Nothing Day. People will take empty shopping carts and form a line inside a supermarket. Then, they will race through the aisles (通道) without putting anything in their empty carts. Other    9    (supporter) celebrate the event by     10    (simple) doing other free activities such as hiking, bicycling, or taking a boat ride. No matter how one participates, Buy Nothing Day presents us with an opportunity to remember that the best things in life are free.

Ecuadorian(厄瓜多尔的) writer Veronica Bonilla has received the Special Book Award for 2021,    1    highest recognition by China for a foreign writer.

“I feel happy,    2    (honour) and pleased to be the first Ecuadorian    3    (receive) this award. It fills me with pride and    4    (happy),” said Bonilla,     5    (extreme) moved.

“I am writing about China, a country    6    I fell in love with when I had the opportunity to get to know it because I want the children of the world to get to know China,” Bonilla said,    7    (add) that all the work and effort she has put into her work pays off.

Bonilla won the award    8    her richly-illustrated book Platanario en China published in 2019.

The China Special Book Award    9    (award) since 2005 to foreign translators, writers and    10    (publisher) who have made significant contribution to promoting Chinese culture in the world.