The local government in Shandan County, Gansu Province recently built a 3D database to     1     (digital) map the Great Wall in order to ensure better protection. The database contains all the information     2     (collect) through unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and air remote sensing technology and forms millimeter-level high-precision 3D     3     (image) of several sections of the Great Wall.

The Shandan section,     4     was mostly built in the Han Dynasty or in the Ming Dynasty stretches over 200 km and     5     (consider) well-preserved. The existing sections in Xiakou Village are the main components. During the past years, the local government     6     (carry) out several projects to restore the Xiakou section and started     7     digitalization project in 2021.

The technical team used UAV photography and remote sensing mapping technologies     8     (take) photos of the Great Wall and the surroundings,     9     (cover) an area of about 25 square kilometer. The team then generated (生成) panoramic 3D models based on data analysis.

The advantage of digitalization is that it can break the limitations of time and space so that users have enough access     10     the understanding of the rich historical and cultural connotations (含义) of the resources.

This project is among the first batch (一批) of digital protection projects of the Great Wall in Gansu, providing a new approach for heritage protection and research.

Crosstalk, Xiangsheng in Chinese, is a     1    (tradition) Chinese comedic performing art and one of China’s most popular cultural forms. It’s     2    (general) believed that crosstalk developed sometime in the Qing Dynasty. After the People’s Republic of China     3    (found) in 1949, this art became increasingly popular. Today, it is     4    important part in the CCTV Spring Festival Gala and other countless shows in China.

There are four     5    (skill) in crosstalk: speaking, imitating, teasing and singing. Most of the time,     6    is performed by two actors—one serves as the leading actor while the other plays a supporting role. However, sometimes it is performed as a monologue (独白),     7    is completed by one person mainly telling jokes, and at other times it is performed by more than two actors,     8    (call) group performance. Crosstalk is humorous and its language is lively and rich     9     puns (双关语).

Jump into a taxi in Beijing, and chances are that your driver will be listening to a radio broadcast of a crosstalk show. These days, more and more foreigners are becoming interested in     10    (study) the art of crosstalk. Crosstalk is a huge part of Chinese culture and it appears as if it’s getting even bigger.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the     1     (important) festivals in China. It is an evening celebration when families gather together     2     (merry) to light lanterns, eat moon cakes and appreciate the round moon.     3     that special night, the moon is the roundest and brightest thing in the sky. The full moon is a symbol for family reunion,     4     is the reason why that day is also known as the Festival of Reunion.

The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations date back to more than 2, 000 years ago. In the Tang Dynasty, people began to enjoy     5     admire the full moon as a custom. In the Southern Song Dynasty, however, people sent round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts in expression of     6     (they) best wishes for family reunion. After it turned dark, they looked up at the fall silver moon or went sightseeing by lakes     7     (celebrate) the festival. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival celebration     8     (become) even more popular. Together with the celebration appeared some special     9     (custom) in different parts of the country, such as     10     (burn) incense (香), planting Mid-Autumn tees, lighting lanterns on towers and fire dragon dances, etc.

Millions of Chinese students have received new versions of Chinese language textbooks.     1     (write) by the Ministry of Education, the textbooks attach more     2     (important) to traditional culture.

Text-books for three-year junior high schools have more content on traditional Chinese articles and poems — 132 in total. They make up 51.7% of all the texts. And primary school students’ books contain 129,     3     is 30% of all the texts.

The articles were chosen     4     classical essays, and poetry dating back to Han, Tang and Song dynasties.

Before the official release (发行), the textbooks     5     (test) in schools across several provinces, but it turns out that not everyone is a fan.

Some parents have questioned the added emphasis on classical Chinese. “They are too young     6     (understand) so many pieces with classical Chinese language. ” they said.

    7    , others welcomed the new books. “ Students at that age may not be able to understand well, but they are like     8     (seed) that will grow one day. Some wisdom delivered through the Chinse classic might help children face the challenges in their own lives     9     (brave).”

In fact, the textbooks arrive at a time     10     ancient Chinese culture is gaining popularity in China.

Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest festival     1     (celebrate) in most East Asian countries, such as China and Korea. The festival     2     (take) place on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. In 2021 it’s on September 21th.

It is     3     second most important festival in China after Chinese New Year. To the Chinese, the festival means family reunion and peace. It is also called “the moon festival” as it is celebrated when the moon is believed to be the     4     (big) and fullest.

Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival     5     many traditional and meaningful activities, such as eating dinner with family, hanging lanterns, guessing lantern riddles, and worshipping the moon. Since 2008, the festival     6     (be) a 3-day public holiday in mainland China.

New celebrations have developed in recent years. The younger generations prefer     7     (travel), surfing the Internet, and using smart phone apps to celebrate with their families.

Mooncakes are the must-eat Mid-Autumn food in China. They are a kind of traditional Chinese pastry (糕点). Chinese people see in the roundness of mooncakes a symbol of reunion and     8     (happy). Other foods eaten during the festival are harvest foods, such as crabs, pumpkins and grapes. People enjoy them at their freshest and most nutritious.

Festival food traditions are also changing. The younger generations have     9     (they) own ideas about what should be eaten. Most of them don’t like mooncakes, and prefer to eat     10     they like.

If you live in northeastern China, you expect long, cold winters. People     1    (live) in Harbin don’t just stand the cold, however, they welcome it. The city is home to the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival,    2    is considered to be the largest ice festival in the world. Even with temperatures usually close to zero, thousands of people head to city parks     3    (see) great ice sculptures, many bathed in colored lights.

The festival includes several thousand ice sculptures. Some of these works are the recreations of castles, historic landmarks and famous people, lit up at night in bright colors. There     4    (visitor) can climb ice stairways and go down ice slides (滑坡). They can also take part    5    sporting events, including skating, ice football     6    well as ice swimming.

The city started     7    (it) icy event in 1963 with the Ice Lantern Garden Party, a     8    (celebrate) of the tradition of creating lanterns out of blocks of ice. The larger festival     9    (begin) in 1985 and added sculptures, which have grown in number and size over the years. As it has gotten bigger, the festival has become popular outside the city.    10    (official), the festival starts on January 5th and lasts over one month.