I’m not Chinese, but I love Chinese New Year. There are many fun New Year     1     (celebrate), but nothing quite matches the excitement of the lion dance which can wake up the spirit     2     (complete).

The sound of the drums,       3     you can feel throughout your entire body, is quite inspiring. The two performers are very flexible. But it is actually very difficult as the lion head is very heavy and being the     4     (low)part of the lion is tiring as he has to bend his back and also carry     5     person in front sometimes. The lion head is made with paper over a bamboo frame,       6     (cover)in gauze (纱布), and decorated with beautifully-colored materials.

The lion dance     7     (believe)to have first appeared in the Qianlong Emperor's dream during his Southern tour, and he ordered an animal     8     (make)in the likeness of his description and used in festivals from then on.

I love all about the lion dance. The other day, I saw a film about a left-behind teenager who insisted on pursuing his dreams despite difficulties and     9     (succeed)in lion dance. As Master Xu translates: “Heaven has made us talents; we’re not made     10     vain.”

The “24 solar terms” are a vital part of the Chinese calendar, which has     1     (it) origin with the ancient Yellow River basin. The Chinese calendar     2     (include) “24 solar terms”provides detailed guidelines and timetable for agricultural     3     (activity).

A complete set of “24 solar terms” first     4     (appear) in an ancient book The Huainanzi in early Han Dynasty. These 24 solar terms were soon absorbed into The Taichu calendar, the first well documented calendar in     5     history of China.

The Chinese Agriculture Calendar is     6     (actual) a combination of the lunar and solar calendar systems. There     7     (be) 365. 2422 days in one “sidereal year” while 12 lunar months add up to 354 days. To make both the lunar calendar     8     the solar calendar agree, a leap lunar month needs to be added every 2 to 3 years. Since the early Han Dynasty, a lunar month without a major solar term     9     (adopt) as a leap month (闰月) .

With more far-reaching cultural exchanges, the “24 solar terms” have been known     10     people in other parts of the world and were added to the “UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage” list in 2016.

Xueqiang, a local ethnic (民族的) dance in Derong County of Sichuan Province, has won national fame among cultural workers and researchers. It was listed     1     a national intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

Over time, Xueqiang became standard entertainment at gatherings and     2    (party). Especially at night during the harvest festival, people would dance the Xueqiang around a bonfire while drinking and singing. Some would risk     3     (jump) the bonfire, making the night even more     4     (excite). Xueqiang has no accompaniment or tools. Its main features are the stomping (跺脚) and stepping rhythms that are sometimes strong and powerful, sometimes soft and free.

Xueqiang singing is complicated in its tune structure, which is     5     (usual) divided into four parts — intro, bridge, verse, and outro. The intervals are full of ups and downs, while the melody (旋律) is bright and     6     (nature). At the end of the melody, dancers stomp their feet to fill the pause, creating a remarkable ending.

As for the origins of Xueqiang, it can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty    7     Princess Wencheng was sent to marry the King of Tubo,     8     ancient kingdom in Tibet. The local artists got together to compose songs and dances     9     (greet) the princess as she passed through. Eventually, Xueqiang     10     (create), combining the artistic spirits of different ethnic groups co-existing at the time.

Wang Tao, founder and CEO of TAORAY WANG believes that beyond beauty, fashion is about absorbing and using social energy.   As one of     1     most accomplished designers in China, she brought this vision into contemporary fashion with her collection, taoray taoray.

The taoray taoray Spring Summer 2020     2     (show) for the first time on the world stage of New York Fashion Week     3     tradition met modernity. The     4     (inspire)came to fruition when taoray taoray’s design team was introduced to Yi embroidery (刺绣). The Yi ethnic group has thousands of years of history, and its splendid culture is valuable in Chinese society. Embroidery is a(n)     5     (remark) part of the culture, which is a symbol and treasure of Yi people's art and culture.

In order to create the collection, Wang and her team went to Chuxiong in Yunnan Province and     6     (dig) into the culture and history of Yi’s craftsmanship (技艺) to gain insight into the essence and symbolism of Yi embroidery.    7    (aim) to recall tradition, the design team applied the     8     (pattern), colors, and techniques of Yi's culture     9     their contemporary fashion design, including T-shirts, jackets, shirts and other essentials.

The taoray taoray collection     10    (be) a reflection on how the designers are preserving culture to remind people of the beauty of tradition in daily life!

Last week, a grand ceremony paying respect to Huangdi,    1     legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation,     2     (hold) at the Xiandu Scenic Spot in Jinyun, Zhejiang province, on the Chongyang Festival.

The ceremony,     3     started at 9:50 am, consisted of nine parts, including striking bells, offering flower baskets and wine to a carols. It     4     (have) the theme of "showing respect to Chinese ancestors with efforts all over the world and opening new     5    (chapter) for attaining common prosperity". During the ceremony, drums were played 34 times and bells were rung 15 times,     6     (represent) 1.5 billion Chinese from 34 provinces, municipalities，autonomous regions and special administrative regions in China and overseas Chinese.

The     7     (year) ceremony for Huangdi in Jinyun dates back     8     the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Showing respect to Huangdi in the new times is reverence (敬畏) for the ancestors who started the Chinese civilization. What's     9     (much), it can inspire the Chinese     10     (unite), helping build the common spiritual home for all Chinese.

Language is the best approach to    1    ( understand) a country. We know that language is a bridge for people to communicate. Chinese is one of the most beautiful languages in the world as well as    2    most-spoken one.

The beauty of Chinese language lies in its form, structure and rhythm. Every sound, stroke, word and sentence have their own stories. In the process of learning Chinese，I hope you will learn to appreciate the Chinese language and its profound cultural heritage. Some foreign friends say that Chinese is difficult    3    ( learn). It shows that those who learn Chinese have great courage and    4    ( wise).

Only after learning Chinese will you know the meaning    5    ( contain) in the Chinese characters. For example, the Chinese character “人”which means “people” consists    6     two supporting strokes, showing people need to support each other. The Chinese character “大”which means “big or great” is like the Chinese character“人”opening arms. This means people opening arms are of great vision. The Chinese character“天”is like “人”standing against the sky. That’s the reason    7    it has the meaning of “sky”. The Chinese character“信”means “trust”. Its left side is “人” and the right side “言” which means “words”. When the two parts    8    ( put) together, it means people keeping their words win trust. You can understand the philosophy at first glance.

There are many    9    ( example) like this. There is no other language in the world that can create so much beauty with just two thousand    10    ( common) used characters. When you try to learn Chinese，you will feel China, understand China better, and even fall in love with China.