If you live in northeastern China, you expect long, cold winters. People     1    (live) in Harbin don’t just stand the cold, however, they welcome it. The city is home to the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival,    2    is considered to be the largest ice festival in the world. Even with temperatures usually close to zero, thousands of people head to city parks     3    (see) great ice sculptures, many bathed in colored lights.

The festival includes several thousand ice sculptures. Some of these works are the recreations of castles, historic landmarks and famous people, lit up at night in bright colors. There     4    (visitor) can climb ice stairways and go down ice slides (滑坡). They can also take part    5    sporting events, including skating, ice football     6    well as ice swimming.

The city started     7    (it) icy event in 1963 with the Ice Lantern Garden Party, a     8    (celebrate) of the tradition of creating lanterns out of blocks of ice. The larger festival     9    (begin) in 1985 and added sculptures, which have grown in number and size over the years. As it has gotten bigger, the festival has become popular outside the city.    10    (official), the festival starts on January 5th and lasts over one month.

Notice

Students' Union

As one of the classic art forms of China, Beijing Opera is a cultural tradition in the modern time. When     1     （reflect） storytelling from as far back as the mid-Qing Dynasty, the actors and actresses,     2     keep the history of China alive, usually wear fantastic costumes and use wonderful voices.

Beijing Opera is     3    （combine） art form of action, singing, dialogue, fighting and dancing to represent a story or describe different characters and their feelings of gladness,     4     （angry）, sorrow and happiness and so on. The characters may be beautiful or ugly, good or bad. Their images are always     5     （vivid） presented in bright costumes that show the styles of ancient China.

There     6    （be） currently four main role categories in Beijing Opera, which are Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou.

The traditional operas consist     7     mainly tales of important historical events, emperors and empresses. They represent stories from the ancient times to Yao, Shun, Yu, the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period and the     8     （dynasty） of Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing.

Some of the newer operas     9     （adopt）from literature and classical novels during the rise of communism. These are all very well known among     10     public but may not be accurate accounts of history.

It was the Mid-Autumn Festival yesterday, and I invite my foreign friend Harry to spend the traditionally festival with my family.

At table, my father was warmly welcomed Harry. He said, "This is a family reunion dinner for a Chinese family on the Mid-Autumn Festival, so today you are certainly one of our family." Harry was so happy but, of course, enjoyed the delicious Chinese dishes preparing by my mother.

In the evening, we sat in the yard, listening to some beautiful story about the moon and sharing moon cakes while admire the moon. "How an amazing day I've had today! I will never forget them, " Harry said.

7 . The shadow play is a typical traditional entertainment that has survived and thrived over the centuries. It is taken as an earliest ancestor of modern cinema.

Legend has it that more than 2,000 years ago, Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty was very depressed over the death of his favorite concubine (妃子). To help him get over his sadness, a minister made a puppet out of cotton and silk in the likeness of the concubine and projected its shadow on a curtain for the emperor to see. The show brought the emperor some comfort. He somehow believed the shadow was his lover’s spirit. This is thought to be the beginning of the shadow play.

One mouth tells stories of thousands of years; a pair of hands operates millions of soldiers. This is how the shadow puppeteer works. Nicknamed “the business of the five”, a shadow puppet group is made up of five people. One operates the puppets, one plays a Suona and a Yueqin, one plays the Banhu, one is in charge of percussion (打击乐器) instruments, and one sings.

During performances, “actors” are held close to a white curtain with their colored shadows cast on it by a strong light from behind. The operator plays five puppets at the same time, each of which has three threads. Ten fingers handle fifteen threads. Moved by guiding sticks, the puppets play roles with musical accompaniment. The popularity of shadow play in some way lies in the equipment being light and easy to carry, the small number of people needed for a performance, and the flexible requirements for performance places. The plays can be quite dramatic and, when it comes to fairy tales or kungfu stories, the “actors” may be made to ride on clouds or perform unusual feats, to the great enjoyment of the audience, especially children.

The design of the figures follows traditional moral evaluation. The audience can tell a figure’s character by seeing his mask. Like the masks in Beijing Opera, a red mask represents honesty, a black mask, loyalty, and a white one, betrayal.

Nowadays, the shadow play has been industrialized and developed a series of tourist products for the promotion of Chinese culture and tourism.

Doctors tell us that holidays are not necessary. We should rest from work a week and two each year. They say we should leave our homes and goes to another part of the country. We should go away for holiday. Then after the holiday, we return home fresh but strong and ready to another year of hard work. This seems to make sense. But is it true? No exactly. Some people do not like to stay in strange hotel or strange houses. It is especially true for young children. They don’t like sudden changes in their lives. They like their homes better of all.

The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, is a much-visited and much-photographed tourist    1    (attract). This Chinese palace with a history of about 600 years     2    (receive) millions of visits every year and lots of TV programs have shown the place in recent years.

However, it still has secrets, and a new program    3    (design) to explore those unknown areas and the stories within is set to show the palace in a new light. The variety show, Shang Xin Le Gu Gong, broadcast its first episode (一集) on Beijing TV and online streaming media site, iQiyi. com, on November 9. That first episode won wide acceptance from audiences and    4    (think) highly of on Douban. com. "It brings many elements(元素)together, and everything in the show is    5    (perfect) matched and turns out amazing," said     6     online user. "It brings me the thrill I felt when I stepped into the Palace Museum for the first time.”

In each one-hour-long episode, the actors and actresses switch between playing guides and historical     7     (figure) like emperors and royal family members of the Qing Dynasty(1644—1911). They focus on areas which are still not accessible     8     the public and the stories     9    (surround) them. In the show, the actors and actresses are also joined by designers     10     will create products based on what they see. The most popular ones, based on an online vote, are to be turned into souvenirs for sale.

10 . Many Westerners have the idea that everyone in China knows how to do kung fu. This is, of course, a silly belief. But it is true that kung fu is a big part of Chinese culture.

Like most people from the West, I was first introduced to kung fu through Hong Kong action films. Stars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan made kung fu popular in the Western world. The flashy and impressive performances they gave in films like Rumble in the Bronx and Enter the Dragon made them household names in the U.S. and elsewhere.

However, my own personal interest in kung fu was actually inspired by a hip hop group. Wu-Tang Clan, founded in the early 1990s in New York City, is one of the most influential hip hop groups in history.

In their songs, they sometimes mention philosophical concepts that come from Wudang quan—a classic Chinese martial art from which they take their name—and Shaolin Temple. I was just a teenager when I first started listening to Wu-Tang Clan—little did I know that I would actually end up living in China later in my life!

I myself do not practice kung fu. However, the concepts behind it are quite interesting to me. There is a Bruce Lee quote that I often think of when I'm struggling with challenges in life. “Be formless, shapeless, like water,” he once said. By this, he meant that you should be ready to adapt to and change your attitudes or beliefs when you face difficulties. I think this is a good way to deal with life.