Chinese embroidery (刺绣) is one of the     1     (tradition) Chinese handicrafts (手工艺品). Chinese embroidery has     2    long history in China. In ancient times, Chinese girls in towns and cities had to learn the embroidery skill at their early age,     3     will give them an advantage when they are going to get married. Embroidery was first developed by local women    4     (decorate) their clothes, bags and bedclothes. The themes of Chinese embroidery are    5     (main) flowers and birds.

With its designs rich in life and full of    6     (color), it has gradually developed into a national art. What’s more, China’s large production of silk has promoted the    7     (develop) of embroidery art.

The two pieces of Warring States Period embroidery unearthed from Chu tomb in Changsha, Hunan Province are known as the    8     (early) Chinese embroidery and evidences    9     a high level of embroidery craftsmanship. Embroidery pieces of Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD)     10     (find) at Dunhuang’s Mogao Grottoes (Thousand-Buddha Cave), Hebei’s Wuluchong tomb, Changsha’s Mawangdui tomb. The embroidery patterns of this period were mainly the wavy cloud, flying phoenix (凤凰), running animals and other patterns.

Escape from the British Museum

A video series named Escape from the British Museum     1    (release) on Wednesday with its trailer (预告片)     2    (spark) a lot of discussion in China’s social media.

    3    (direct) by two Chinese vloggers, the three episode series tells the story of     4     a Chinese cultural relic escapes from the British Museum and finds     5    (it) way back to China.

In the video series, a female vlogger plays the role of an ancient Chinese jade teapot     6     her male partner is a journalist who helps the artifact return to China. They went to the UK in June and spent three months     7    (shoot) the video. They said the story is based on historic facts and aims to draw attention to the Chinese cultural relics held abroad.

Currently, the museum has a total of 23,000 Chinese relics, while about 2,000 Chinese relics are     8     long-term display. The Chinese objects,     9    (stretch) from the Neolithic age to the present, include paintings, prints, jade and ceramics.

“Eventually, there will be a day     10     the items come home in a dignified way,” a user commented on Weibo. The series release has come as the British Museum faces intense pressure over the thefts.

Whenever Song Jing visits a museum, she makes a point of checking out ancient books. In addition to appreciating the wisdom     1    (hide) in these historical volumes, she also focuses on how they are bound. This “book doctor” has been engaged in restoring lots of ancient cultural relics since she     2    (graduate) from Peking university in 2015.     3    (present), Song and her colleagues are restoring a copy of Yongle Dadian, an encyclopedia created in 1408. It took them six months to decide on how to restore the books, most of     4     have suffered damage to their original binding.     5    (make) the original restoration, they need to gather information from     6    (variety) sources. Moreover,     7     the silk texture and colour have both grown inconsistent makes creating the necessary raw materials and     8    (match) the colour difficult. The advanced technology is helping them with the restoration.     9    , it can’t give any help in need, as ancient-book restoration still requires essential manual skills. “Hopefully, I can be of some help in boosting more young people’s     10    (enthusiastic) for restoring cultural heritage,” said Song.

Recently, the National Roller Skating Championships was held in Lishui, Zhejiang. Qin Yuqing, a member of the national freestyle roller skating team, gained an     1    (impress) triumph, which marked her debut in the adult division of competitive events.

Dressed in a stunning clothes inspired by the celestial (天上的) singers and dancers,     2    (refer) to as Flying Apsaras (飞天仙子), depicted in the murals of Dunhuang’s Mogao Grottoes located in Gansu province in Northwest China, Qin fascinated the audience with her dazzling skating performance.

Born in the year 2004, this young enthusiast of roller skating and traditional Chinese culture has already secured numerous     3    (victory) in competitions. Qin began her roller skating journey when she was just 6 years old. She felt     4     indescribable bond to roller skating, and recognizing her passion, her parents swiftly enrolled her in the sport. From that moment on, she applied herself     5     daily practice with considerable energy.

    6    (step) onto the competition stage initially brought about nervousness and mis-takes for Qin, resulting in setbacks. She recalled a moment when she fell in the middle of a competition, experiencing a pang of     7    (embarrass), but quickly adjusting her mindset. “Failure is okay.     8     matters isn’t whether you stumble, but whether you stand up again.”

Since 2015, Qin     9    (commit) herself to the preservation and promotion of Chinese culture. To ensure that the elegance of Chinese culture was perfectly displayed in roller skating competitions, Qin has invested a lot of time and energy. She said, “I desire to be more than just a roller skater; I aim to be an ambassador of Chinese culture, upholding and advancing     10    (China) magnificent heritage through the integration of roller skating and traditional aesthetics (美学).”

A new chain of coffee shops has sprung up in the city of Wuxi, East China’s Jiangsu province, themed on the ancient Huishan clay figurine (泥人) culture—with a few modern adaptations. The Nanimomo Cafe chain has expanded     1     (rapid) since May last year and now has 11     2     (branch) in operation. The coffee shops display     3     range of figurines and related creative cultural products. In addition     4     drinking coffee, visitors can choose whether     5     (have) a go at making clay sculptures on site.

Huishan clay figurines are made from the black clay found at the foot of Huishan Mountain in Wuxi. They are said to have a     6     (record) history of more than 400 years. And they     7     (list) among the first batch (批) of China’s national intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产) in 2006. In Wuxi dialect, Huishan clay figurines are pronounced nanimomo. The two most famous     8     (tradition) figurines are A Fu and A Xi, meaning “good fortune” and “joy”, and the factory has designed and produced several new figurines, such as Nani and Momo,    9     are more modern and attractive to young consumers. There are also several cute and colorful characters,    10     (carry) different types of food for which Wuxi is famous: spare ribs (排骨), peaches and steamed buns.