As traditional tea processing techniques and their     1    (associate) social practices in China were recently included on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the world is paying more attention to Chinese tea.

Southwest China’s Sichuan province has the     2    (early) history of tea growing in China, with one place in particular standing out: Mengding Mountain in Ya’an. The average annual temperature there is 14.5 degrees, and the year-round mist and rain is     3    (benefit) to the forming of nitrogenous (含氮的) substances in tea     4    (leaf).

Its superior natural and ecological conditions, along with a     5    (high) developed production process, contribute     6     the quality of Mengshan tea.

    7    (origin) in the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD24), the tea has more than 2,000 years of history. Since the year 742 during the reign of the Xuanzong Emperor of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Mengshan tea     8    (serve) as a gift for the royals.

A traditional green tea,     9     includes five varieties, is represented by Mengding Ganlu. Famed as one of the 10 most famous teas in China, the technique for making Mengshan tea was listed     10     the national-level intangible cultural heritage in 2021.

3 . In my latest novel, Aphrodite’s Tears, I wanted to draw on this ancient Greek tradition of sponge (海绵) diving; and explore the traditions surrounding the way of life. My fictional island of Helios, therefore, has a long association with sponge diving, and the heroine Oriel, a newcomer to the island and a diver herself, is keen to learn all about it.

Damian, the leader of the island, explains to Oriel that in his father’s generation, sponge diving was one of the main industries on the island. A sizeable group of islanders would leave each May-yet in the autumn, a smaller group would return. “In those days,” Damian explains, “one man in three was either dead or crippled (残疾的) from the caisson disease before they reached marriageable age.” Under Damian’s leadership, other means of earning a living are being developed-such as olive oil production. But some of the men continue to follow in their ancestors’ footsteps and dive for sponges, and each year there are still two or three deaths.

The emotional impact of these losses on the little island community is apparent to Oriel when she comes across a shrine (祠堂) by the port. There she sees tiny paintings that tell the story of the sponge divers, and before the paintings, so many flowers and gifts. They are laid by the women of the sponge-diving families, as offerings for protection for their men and as thanks for the miracle of their safe return.

Why, Oriel wonders, would these men take the risk? After all, with synthetic (合成的) sponges flooding the market, sponge diving is nowhere near as lucrative as it used to be. “It comes down to tradition,” Damian explains: “To the romantic young, it naturally seems a grand thing to sail away every summer to the shores of Africa and to come back, pockets full of money, hailed a hero... I have seen young boys playing at sponge fishing: swimming underwater, wearing the sponge-fisher’s mask and carrying their spear, pretending to detach sponges from the bottom of the sea. An aura (气息) of heroism surrounds the profession.”

4 . Every year on the third Sunday in June, Father’s Day is celebrated by families all around the world. We celebrate and honor fathers and their influence in our lives. Apart from your biological father, you can also celebrate grandfathers, stepfathers, and others you consider father figures.     1    

The history of Father’s Day goes back to 1908, when a church in West Virginia honored 362 men killed the previous year in a coal mining explosion. The following year, a woman named Dodd started her quest to establish Father’s Day as a national holiday.     2     So she thought fathers should be honored in the same way as mothers.

    3     It was finally declared a national holiday in 1972. It took more than 60 years from the birth of the idea to Father’s Day actually being recognized as a holiday.     4     In the 1920s and 1930s, there was a national movement to get rid of both Mother’s and Father’s Day and replace them with one “Parent’s Day”. Meanwhile, many fathers didn’t want such a holiday. After all, as the only breadwinners at the time, they didn’t particularly want their hard-earned cash spent on flowers and chocolates.

    5     Struggling businessmen pushed the gift-giving holiday during the Depression, and during the War, Father’s Day became a way to honor the many fathers serving overseas. By the time President Nixon signed the Father’s Day as a holiday, it was already a national institution.

5 . The last Wednesday in August marks Spain’s messiest festival. Held in Buñol, 40km west of Valencia, La Tomatina is a tomato-throwing spectacle that draws more than 20, 000 tourists each year.

There are a number of stories related to its beginning of this festival but no one knows for sure the exact origin. One story states a fight between the locals and the city councilmen over an issue, forced the locals to throw tomatoes at the councilmen. The event somehow transformed from a method to display anger to one of fun and entertainment and year after year, the “tomato fight” began to attract the public of Buñol.

On the day of the festival, trucks arrive at the center of town, carrying truckloads of tomatoes belonging to the relatively cheaper kind. The trucks then empty the tomatoes on the streets to be picked up by the participants. The tomato-throwing often starts at about 11 a. m. People pick up the tomatoes on the streets, throwing tomatoes at each other. Certain rules apply during this period. People are expected to squash the tomatoes before throwing to minimize the chances of injury and no other objects except for tomatoes can be used in the play. After the tomato throwing ends, cleaning operations begin. The town authorities get busy cleaning the streets while local residents often help the tourists clean themselves with water from pipes. Many take dips in locals’ pools and rivers to clean themselves.

Over the past years, tourists in Buñol have heavily increased due to the increasing popularity of La Tomatina. However, such a huge gathering in a small town center is believed to be a risk to people. This has forced the government to regulate the number of participants at the festival to 20,000. An entry fee has also been charged while free passes are kept for the locals. Safety officials, police forces and ambulance services are also kept ready to meet any emergency needs during the festival.

Every month, Zhang Lingling holds a party with her friends. At the party, all the people dress

    1     (they) in hanfu, a type of dress worn by the ancient Han people, and sing songs that     2     (accompany) by traditional instruments or inspired by ancient poems.

Like Zhang, there are many young people who have a passion     3     traditional Chinese culture. They are interested in clothes, songs and games     4     (base) on traditional culture. A report released by Bilibili shows that over 177 million of the platform’s users loved     5     (video) featuring traditional culture. Young people may think traditional culture     6     (be) the best way to distinguish their national identity. They want to tell the world who they are.     

While some prefer inheriting (继承) traditional Chinese culture, others are transforming it to be     7     (accessible) to the young generation. Pop culture designer Yu Yang is one of them,     8     works feature the ancient God of Fortune. The god wears fashionable Chinese shoes and a cap, and has a microphone in his hand. “Pop culture is a universal language.     9     (hopeful), more people would accept and love my work and know Chinese culture through my art pieces,” he said in     10     interview with China Daily.