To celebrate the birthday is important in one’s life in China. When one is young, usually he will eat noodles before his birthday,     1     the long noodles indicate the longevity in China. After middle age, his birthday will be     2     (grand) than before. On the wedding day, it is also a custom to serve various nuts as good     3     (wish) to the couple.

To most Chinese people, returning home after long     4     (absent) or departure from home is     5     (equal) important and there are dining customs     6     (associate) with this. Noodles and dumplings     7     (offer) respectively. This is especially popular in Northeast China. In Central China, when a baby is born, the happy father will send red boiled eggs to announce     8     news. Eggs with a black pointed end and dots in a number such as six or eight, indicate a boy’s birth; those without a black pointed end and dots in a number like five or seven say the baby is a girl.

In addition     9     these, fish has always been used     10     (suggest) the accumulation of prosperity and wealth with meals on New Year’s Eve.

When Zhang Lingshan was a child, she would watch the Chinese period drama Palace on television, attracted by the characters’ ancient clothing. She didn’t know what these beautiful clothes     1     (call)—only that they were from some     2     (distance) past. “They looked fairy-like, dreamy,” she said. “I was     3     (complete) drawn by the beauty of these clothes, and then eventually came to understand the culture of Hanfu, and I liked it more and more.”

Now aged nineteen and     4     (live) in Beijing, Zhang is     5     member of China’s growing “hanfu movement”—a renaissance (复兴) of the ancient clothing traditionally worn by ethnic-majority Han Chinese before the Qing dynasty. Tight-knit Hanfu communities and university clubs often meet for themed activities. Zhang and her friends sometimes visit places with ancient architecture, like Beijing’s Forbidden City,     6     emperors once lived, to take     7    (photo) in costume and post them on social media. They have more than 20,000 fans who often ask them     8     more pictures.

Nowadays, Hanfu is seen as a way     9     (celebrate) Chinese culture and improve national self-esteem. In the past few years, Hanfu clubs and social media platforms     10     (help) to bring the Han clothing back under the spotlight. “It’s the confidence of the younger people, the confidence of the country,” said Christine Tsui, a fashion columnist and researcher in Shanghai.

First Chinese lanterns were invented in the Eastern Han Dynasty and used as lamps and for the worship of the Buddha. With    1    （them）rich colors and nice shapes, lanterns add to, the atmosphere of festivals. In the Tang Dynasty, lanterns were made    2    （show）people’s peaceful life and present China as a powerful country. The materials    3    are used for making a lantern are very simple. Historically, bamboo, wood or wire was used for the frame. The shade was crafted from delicate paper or silk. Chinese calligraphy, painting and paper cutting were often used for    4    （decorate）the lanterns.

While first    5    （create）for practical use in the house, the Chinese lanterns eventually became    6    （high）decorative, and a status symbol. Although there is no longer a practical need for Chinese lanterns, they are still made, used, and enjoyed by the Chinese people during festivals. The streets both in big cities    7    small towns are decorated with red lanterns during festivals.

The Lantern Festival is one of the best    8    （day）to view Chinese lanterns in action. It is always held on the 15th day of the first Chinese lunar month. The festival is viewed    9    the end to the Chinese New Year celebrations and it    10    （celebrate) with the release of floating and flying lanterns.

The origin of facial makeup used in Peking Opera can date back to more than 1,400 years ago,     1    leading actors used to wear masks. As the operatic arts developed,     2     (perform) gradually took off their masks and painted colorful patterns on their faces instead, so people could better see    3     (they) facial expressions.

Chinese Opera facial makeup is a special makeup method    4    Chinese cultural characteristics.     5    painting technique for Chinese facial makeup in dramas is closely related to the character's personality. Over the years of development, it    6     (become) an important part of Chinese culture.

There    7     (be) four roles in facial makeup, sheng, dan, jing, and chou. Chinese facial-makeup is    8     (extreme) stylized in the colors and patterns used, but no two painted faces are alike. For example, there are more than 100 face-painting styles    9     (design) for Xiang Yu, the hero in Farewell My Concubine, and each one is different. Various types of Chinese facial makeup enable the audience    10     (know) a character easily and get more involved in the appreciation of the performance.

Guozhuang dance is a favorite collective bonfire dance（集体篝火舞）of Tibetans, allowing people to show respect to nature.

Wandering in the old town of Dukezong in     1     daytime, one can always see elderly Tibetans dancing in a circle while     2     （sing） traditional Tibetan songs. When dusk     3    （fall）, Tibetan youths, after finishing a full day's work or study, will come outdoors to dance with a     4     （fast） pace and more joyful music.

“Guozhuang dance     5     （be） about paying respect to nature since ancient times, but now when we dance, it is more about recording and passing down our ethnic（民族的〉memory and tradition with every step,“ said Losang Tashi, a 28-year-old Tibetan in Shangri-La.

“When I feel tired in daily life, I always dance Guozhuang to relieve my pressure. It makes my mind     6     （full） relaxed,^” he said, "Just as many watch TV dramas and play online games     7    （relax）, many Tibetan youths like me are fond     8     dancing to our traditional music, so it means a lot to us,“ he said.

“When other non-Tibetan people watch us dancing, I can bring     9     （happy） to them,“ he said. "I feel so satisfied when I tell tourists about the messages     10     are conveyed by Guozhuang dance.

In modern society, many traditional Chinese festivals are becoming less and less popular. However, they are important part of Chinese culture, and it’s our     1    (responsible) to protect and maintain them. This article focuses on a festival that many people are not familiar with ----Hanshi Festival.

With a history of more than 2,600 years, Hanshi Festival is the only traditional one in China named     2     food, and it is also known as the Cold Food Festival as people are only allowed to eat cold food on this day. Hanshi normally     3    (fall) around April 3 in the solar calendar, one to two days ahead of the Qingming Festival.

In most parts of China, fires might start easily in the dry early spring due to the flammable substances     4    (store) by people and the spring thunder. As a result, the ancients usually held grand ceremonies of sacrifice in     5     the fire stored from the previous year would be put out. Later, they would drill wood to get new fire for a new year. The gap between putting out old fire and     6    (burn) the wood to obtain new fire ranged from three, five, or seven days according to different     7    (history) records.

During the gap days, fires     8    (prohibit) in households. As a result, people would eat what they had prepared previously, namely the cold food, or hanshi in Chinese. That’s     9    the Hanshi Festival gradually came into being.

As the Hanshi Festival is one to two days ahead of the Qingming Festival, they gradually got combined with one another. After the Song Dynasty, cold food did not remain a necessity on this day, and gradually, Qingming Festival took over the folk activities of Hanshi     10    (become) a major festival on this subject.