A 50-minute drive northwest of downtown, Beijing, a village pops up. It    1    (house) a shadow puppetry troupe (皮影戏剧团) and Beijing Long zaitian Shadow Puppet Theater.

Shadow puppetry is seen    2    the prequel (先行篇) to film and animation in China. Besides performances    3     (create) by light and shadow, performers must master a    4    (vary) skill set as the plays combine painting, carving, opera and literature. But due to low revenue and a small market, young people are unwilling     5    (learn) shadow puppetry.

    6    , this particular troupe stands out from the crowd. Average performer age is only 25. Moreover, of the 300 performers    7    has trained over the years, many are under 1.4 m in    8    (high). In 2021, the team created Winter Olympics-themed shadow pupets. The troupe also staged different plays    9    (introduce) ice and snow sports through fairy tales.

“    10    (fortunate), we have these people. They have been devoted to the inheritance of shadow puppetry for over a decade,”said Wang Xi, inheritor of Beijing Western School Shadow Puppetry.

The Art of Chinese Xinjiang Uyghur Muqam (新疆维吾尔木卡姆艺术) is a     1    (represent) name of various kinds of Muqam in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (自治区),     2     was declared one of the UNESCO Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005.

Muqam,     3    (recognise) as the mother of Uyghur music, is not only     4     artistic creation with a long history, but also a record of     5    (communicate) between China and the regions to the west of it in history. It can be found in 19 countries and regions in Central, South, and West Asia, and North Africa, which is     6    (particular) due to Xinjiang’s central location along the Silk Road.

In Muqam ensembles (乐团), the lead instruments, called satar, are made from local materials and vary in form. The dancing skills involve unique steps, rhythms, and formations as well as     7    (figure) such as flower-picking-by-mouth, bowl-carrying-on-head, and imitation of animals in solo dances.

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, every possible means     8    (use) to preserve the Twelve Muqam by the Chinese government. About 20 study centres have been set up     9    (train) professional researchers on Muqam. Moreover, the government has introduced Muqam     10     the national artistic education system.

Every person in this world has their own unique experiences and challenges—and just because they aren’t universal, it doesn’t mean they aren’t there. That’s where the Human Library project comes in. It gives us a chance     1    (explore) the stories that we might never know about otherwise. It gives us     2     unique opportunity to look at the world through the eyes of others.

It is done without     3    (judge), and it leads to understanding. The Human Library started     4     the concept of living books. Each person became an open “book” and shared their own experiences in life. They would talk about     5     life was like in their shoes.

The project began with fifty different human books which were highlighted in an event that     6    (last) for four days,     7    (go) for eight hours each day, as the human books answered questions and held discussions. Now, the Human Library has become something that reaches so much     8    (far) and has had an impact on so many minds.

The Human Library gives people a chance to ask questions. It offers a rare option to learn from the perspective of those who     9    (affect) by a situation. It’s no longer about always having an outside perspective. It’s about having a chance to go to the source and     10    (simple) ask.

Would you be willing to become a human book and share your own story?