After the Lantern Festival, the     1     (follow) joyous celebration in China’s traditional festival calendar is the Huazhao Festival, a traditional flower festival.

With a history of over 2,000 years, the Huazhao Festival is held in celebration of the flower goddess’ birthday. Since the climate     2     (vary) in different parts of China, people hold celebrations on the second, twelfth,     3     fifteenth day of February in the Chinese lunar calendar.

According to ancient beliefs, the flower goddess (女神) controlled the reproduction of mankind. Due to the primitive lifestyle and agriculture-dominated economy, people held that the more members a family had, the     4     (merry). Thus, it later became a custom to celebrate the birthday of the flower goddess for     5     (happy).

Once as significant as the Lantern Festival and Mid-autumn Festival, the Huazhao Festival has gone through stages of thriving (兴旺), declining and restoring. Nowadays     6     increasing number of people in various parts of China have begun to celebrate this flower festival again. Some of them,     7     (dress) in hanfu, a type of traditional Chinese clothing, perform a series of activities. Here is a list of relevant customs as     8     (inspire) for you to spend the Huazhao Festival: praying     9     the flower goddess; having a spring outing; fastening pieces of red cloth to flowers; picking wild vegetables believed     10     (have) the function of promoting health; going to fairs, etc.

As the sun rises over his tea farm in Ning’ er county in Pu’ er, Yunnan province, Li Xingchang walks around,     1     (examine) the leaves of the plants.

Last November, China’s traditional tea-processing techniques and their associated social practices were listed on the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Pu’er tea     2     (include) on the list.

Li’s family began making Pu’ er tea during the Emperor Yongzheng period(1723–35). He is now the     3     (eight) generation with expert skills in the process.

When Li was a child, he would go to the plantation with his parents     4     (help) them pick leaves at harvest time.     5     a history of several hundred years, the ancient plantation was his playground. Most of his childhood     6     (memory) are associated with it, such as climbing tea trees and playing games with his friends.

In 1987, Li started learning     7     to make Pu’er tribute tea from his mother,     8     he said was very strict. From planting to the complicated processes of tea making, it took him 10 years to win his mother’s     9     (approve).

“If I didn’t do well, she would throw away the leaves or refuse to drink the tea I made. When one day, she smiled after taking a sip, I knew I     10     (make) it,” recalls Li.

Using needles to help life’s energy flow

For thousands of years, the Chinese have relieved pain and cured disease through acupuncture (针灸).     1     (evolve) from the discovery that using stone needles to prick specific points on the surface of the body could relieve pain and symptoms, acupuncture has become     2     integral part of traditional Chinese medicine, in line with the philosophy that promotes the harmonious coexistence of humans with nature.

According to Records of the Grand Historian,     3     (write) by Sima Qian about 2,100 years ago, Bian Que, a highly skilled     4     (physical) during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), was famous for having saved a prince from “death” by using needles to stimulate the Baihui acupoint on the head of the unconscious man.

According to TCM (中医), there are a dozen meridians (经脉) in the human body,     5     the qi, or life energy, circulates to nourish the organs. Cold, infections or diseases can result in blocking of the energy, and so stimulating the acupoints can unblock stagnant (不流动的) qi, restore normal circulation and improve health. Today, acupuncture is still     6     (wide) used in China.

In 2010, UNESCO inscribed acupuncture and moxibustion of TCM on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Yet, the practice is not just cultural and historical,     7     a medical technique widely used and researched today.

For years,     8     the clear therapeutic effects of acupuncture in treating many diseases, there were few convincing studies that explained how acupoint stimulation worked, or what meridians were anatomically speaking, so the technique always seemed somewhat    9     (mystery).

However, as scientific research of acupuncture     10     (grow) in recent years, producing good quality results, the technique is gaining traction around the world.

Chinese jump rope, also known as tiaopijin, is a children’s game. One reason for its     1     (popular) is the fact that although the moves can be quite     2     (challenge), the game itself is very simple. There’s no need for players    3     (buy) expensive equipment since what they need is only a rope.

The game     4     (begin) in 7th-century China. In the 1960s, children in the West adopted the game. The game is     5     (typical) played in a group of at least 3 players with a rope about 16 feet     6     length tied into a circle. Two players face each other     7     (stand) 9 feet apart, and position the rope around their ankles so that it is tightly stretched. The third player stands between the two sides of the rope and tries to perform a series of moves without making     8     error.

There are many jump patterns, most of     9     are accompanied by a song. This is sometimes called the “first level”. The jumper tries to complete the chosen pattern. If the moves     10     (complete) successfully, then the rope is moved farther up and the series is repeated.

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).