China’s Taijiquan, also known as Tai Chi-- a major part of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and represented by millions of practicers worldwide--     1    (add) to UNESCO'S Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2020.

UNESCO described it     2    a   traditional physical practice characterized by relaxed and   circular movements. Taijiquan,     3     originated during the mid-17th century in Wenxian county in Jiaozuo, Henan province, is practiced throughout the country by people of all ages and ethnic groups.     4     (influence) by Taoist and Confucian thought and theories of Chinese and theories of Chinese medicine，    5     practice has developed into several schools or styles named after a clan(家族) or a master’s personal surname, such as Chen style or Yang style. They are passed down through clan-based form or the master-apprentice(师徒) model,     6     built upon the yin and yang cycle and the cultural understanding of the unity of heaven and humanity.

The successful bid is of great art    7     (significant) to the promotion of wushu, and    8     (especial)Taijiquan, globally. We should work more closely with scientific institution     9     (show) the connection between Taijiquan and     10    (people) physical and psychological health.

The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. The Awakening of Insects(惊蛰)falls on Mar．6 and ends on Mar 20 this year．

The Awakening of Insects signals    1    rise in temperature and increased rain fall. As the third solar term in the lunar year,    2    (it)name suggests the fact that animals sleeping in winter are awakened by spring thunder and that the earth begins to come back    3    life．It is the key time for spring agricultural activities. It is also a good time for people    4    (enjoy)fun outdoors, especially for people living in the city. Driving to the suburbs,     5    (fish)in a lake or enjoying the singing bird will make for a perfect weekend in spring．The most popular fruit in this season    6    (be)pears．

The custom of eating pears is     7    (wide)practiced around the Awakening of Insects. As the weather gets warmer and the air becomes    8    (dry),people tend to feel their mouths and tongues are dry,    9    can cause colds or coughs. A pear is sweet, juicy and cold, moistening(湿润) the lungs to arrest a cough．    10    ,pears are recommended during the Awakening of Insects．

3 . Traditional Chinese Culture

Chinese culture is over 5000 years old.     1    

The spirit of the tea ceremony

Xi Hu Long Jing （West Lake Dragon Well） and Yunnan Pu'er have long been, world famous.     2     .The spirit of the Chinese tea ceremony captures the Chinese attitude towards life and spirituality. These are the things that people all over the world can benefit from.

A handful of good tea leaves with some boiling water and a set of lovely tea ware are the perfect way to spend a sunny afternoon and gain some insight into the wisdom of this ancient civilization.

    3    

During the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, many different flavors, styles, and cuisines （烹饪）have developed based on traditional philosophy and culture. This ancient food culture has had a direct impact on the countries, such as Japan, Mongolia, South Korea, Thailand, and Singapore. It has benefited billions of people around the world through such innovations as Chinese vegetarian culture, tea culture, vinegar, pasta medicated diets, ceramic tableware, and the use of soybeans in the diet.

Chinese Confucianism

Confucianism has flourished during the last 2,500 of China's 5,000-year history.     4     . This school of thought has had the most profound and long lasting influence in China's history. Seventy-four Nobel Prize winners and many other highly respected scholars have stated that for the benefit of mankind's livelihood and development into the next century, these teachings should be promoted and adopted worldwide.     5     .

4 . When cultural heritage sites disappear, they’re gone forever. However, they are being endangered at an alarming rate by rising seas (Venice), pollution (the Taj Mahal) and overtourism (Angkor Wat). Just to name a few.

But when we try to protect these heritage sites, we also have to face such thorny questions as “What part of the past is worth preserving and passing on to the next generations? What duty do we owe to the creations of our ancestors? What strength do we draw from their presence — and when, on the contrary, do they become a lead weight, preventing us from projecting ourselves into the future?”

Humankind has answered these difficult questions differently in different places. In Dresden, Germany, the Frauenkirche was an 18th-century church whose bell-shaped top was a landmark. In February, 1945, one of the most destructive bombing attacks of World War II killed more than 25,000 people and reduced the city to ruins. With Dresden slowly rebuilt after the war, the Frauenkirche was left in ruins. But after German reunification, the church was reconstructed using many of its original materials, as a statement of peace and harmony.

Like the Frauenkirche, Notre Dame, a landmark in Paris, which was destroyed by fire in 2019, is being rebuilt as close as possible to how it was before, including using the original and poisonous metal-lead-for the roof. That choice was controversial, as future choices are bound to be in the debate about how to restore and preserve historic buildings.

Perhaps, no one can claim to have the right answers on preservation. There may not even be right answers. What we will do is to continue to take care of important cultural heritage sites, as a matter of significance to humanity’s past, present and future.

Kites, which were invented over 2,000 years ago in China, are believed to be     1     earliest flying objects created by humans. After centuries of development, kites have become one of the country’s representative traditional handicrafts, showing     2     (it) charm and gaining popularity all over the world. In 2006, kite-making technique was included     3     the list of China’s national intangible cultural heritage.

Currently, the Chinese kite-making technique     4     (involve) four steps: making the frame, pasting paper onto the frame, painting and decorating it and then mastering the art of flying the kite. The most distinctive kite-making technique can be found in Weifang,     5     has developed its own unique characteristics     6     (base) on traditional kite-making craftsmanship. This city is     7     (wide) regarded as the birthplace of many popular flying toys. The themes of Weifang kites are incredibly different, including birds, fish, cultural relics, historical figures and legends.

Today in Weifang, there are virtually no limitations on the shapes or sizes of kites, which can be made     8     (present) people’s ideals and aspirations. This diversity can be observed at the annual Weifang International Kite Festival, which     9     (hold) on the third Saturday of every April since 1984. People from over 30 countries and regions around the world take part in the festival every year. During the festival, the skill of kite-flying is demonstrated through many aerial     10     (compete).

8 . Nobody ever imagined that after being lost for more than half a century the intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产) known as Gaolou Mixian would be restored and passed down by a young man. “ As someone of Gaolou origin, I have a responsibility to restore our ancestors’ art form, ” said Chen Guorui, the world’s only inheritor (继承人) of this ancient art.

Gaolou Mixian uses rice paste to glue together selected grains of transparent (透明的) rice to create realistic figures or structures. It is a unique folk art that developed during the Qing Dynasty and reached its peak during the first half of the 20th century. Each household in Gaolou village would make rice structures that they put on display in their ancestral halls (祠堂) during the Chinese New Year, which attracted people from all sides.

However, due to the wet weather in southern China, these rice-made artworks would only last three to four months before losing their shape. It is for this reason that these works are not seen in museums in China. Due to various historical reasons, most people in Gaolou village did not pass down the art form, which caused it to disappear nearly 70 years ago.

Chen found out about this after hearing one former resident express disappointment about its loss. Curious, he started to do research and tried out the methods he heard about from older people in the village. After several months of exploration, Chen finally completed his first successful work.

Over the past five years, Chen has gradually improved his skills and even begun using new techniques, such as making some colorful artworks with colored grains of rice. Since 2017, people at home and abroad have taken an interest in this long-lost art form. To avoid being the last inheritor, Chen has been giving classes to some students at a primary school in Fuzhou with the support of local education authorities.