4 . Friday and Saturday were full of surprises for Chinese, as two places in China were listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. The first, a World Natural Heritage, is made up of a series of migratory bird sanctuaries (候鸟保护地) along the coast of the Yellow Sea in Yancheng, East China’s Jiangsu Province. The second, the Liangzhu Archaeological Site in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province, was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site.

China began the application process for the bird sanctuaries in 2017. It only took two years to successfully complete the process. The migratory bird sanctuaries are the central point of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway and many endangered species, especially threatened migratory birds including red-crowned cranes and flamingos, go there to hunt for food during the migration season. The birds usually take a month to finish their migration. At about 10 days into their migration, they must stop and find food in order to have the energy to continue their journey.

Compared to the short period for the World Natural Heritage’s application, the Liangzhu application was far more challenging. The application team spent six years making their dream a reality. The site in Liangzhu is evidence of the existence of an early regional state in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the late Neolithic (新石器) period in China, which helps fill in the gaps in the history of the rice-cultivating (种植) civilizations of China and East Asia more than 5000 years ago. The site was one of the 20th century’s most important archaeological discoveries in China.

With these two new additions, China now has 55 World Heritage sites, the highest number in the world. The successful application means greater responsibility and duties. Protecting these places is much more important and is our future work.

6 . The meaning of silence varies among cultural groups. Silences may be thoughtful, or they may be empty when a person has nothing to say. A silence in a conversation may also show stubbornness, or worry. Silence may be viewed by some cultural groups as extremely uncomfortable; therefore attempts may be made to fill every gap with conversation. Persons in other cultural groups value silence and view it as necessary for understanding a person’s needs.

Many Native Americans value silence and feel it is a basic part of communicating among people, just as some traditional Chinese and Thai persons do. Therefore, when a person from one of these cultures is speaking and suddenly stops, what maybe implied is that the person wants the listener to consider what has been said before continuing. In these cultures, silence is a call for reflection.

Other cultures may use silence in other ways, particularly when dealing with conflicts among people or in relationships of people with different amounts of power. For example, Russian, French, and Spanish persons may use silence to show agreement between parties about the topic under discussion. However, Mexicans may use silence when instructions are given by a person in authority rather than be rude to that person by arguing with him or her. In still another use, persons in Asian cultures may view silence as a sign of respect, particularly to an elder or a person in authority.

Nurses and other care-givers need to be aware of the possible meanings of silence when they come across the personal anxiety their patients may be experiencing. Nurses should recognize their own personal and cultural construction of silence so that a patient’s silence is not interrupted too early or allowed to go on unnecessarily. A nurse who understands the healing value of silence can use this understanding to assist in the care of patients from their own and from other cultures.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Yours,

Li Hua

As the capital of 13 dynasties (朝代) throughout Chinese history, Xi’an has never been far from sports. From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the city    1    (hold) many sports events, such as cuju.

Cuju was    2     ancient Chinese competitive game involving kicking a ball through an opening. As the ancestor of soccer, it first appeared in the ancient Chinese historical work Zhan Guo Ce, in which cuju     3    (describe) as one of amusements among the general public.

Later, cuju was    4    (common) played in the army during the Han Dynasty(202BC-220AD). Emperor Hangaozu Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, not only liked watching cuju games,     5    always tried his footwork on the playground. Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty,     6     was crazy about cuju, would set up a cuju field wherever his army went. He used cuju as a way of     7    (train) soldiers.

The     8    (early) record of women cuju players dates back to the Han Dynasty. We can see from the paintings females with their hair    9    (tie), waving their sleeves and looking elegant (优雅的) when they were playing

As a way of national cultural    10    (protect), cuju was listed into the first batch of China’s intangible cultural heritages (非物质文化遗产) in 2006.