The 13th United Nations Chinese Language Day under the theme of “Chinese Language: Together for a Bright Future” has taken place,    1    includes a series of events in celebration of the third International Chinese Language Day. Beijing Dance Academy     2    (launch) an online event to mark the day on April 20, featuring six original dance works of different    3    (style), such as ballet, contemporary dance and classic Chinese dance.

Six art schools from five countries joined in the online event with dance works     4     (specific) created for the special occasion. One of the highlights is     5    new dance piece, titled Tong, or Together, which was created and performed by Beijing Dance Academy and dancers from Brazil, South Africa, Kazakhstan and Poland. It was inspired by the classic Confucius philosophy of datong,     6     (refer) to great unity and grand harmony.

Language Days at the United Nations seek    7     (promote) equal use of all six official languages throughout the organization as well as to celebrate multilingualism and cultural     8    (diverse). Under the initiative, UN duty stations around the world celebrate six separate days, each devoted     9       one of the organizations’ six official languages. The date for the Chinese day     10     (select) from Grain Rain, which is the sixth of 24 solar terms in the traditional Chinese calendars.

Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known     1    Qingming Festival, is a traditional Chinese holiday that falls on April 4th or 5th each year. It is a time     2     families gather together to pay respects to their ancestors, by cleaning their tombs, offering food, burning incense, and performing other rituals.

The holiday has a long history,    3     (date) back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). Tomb-Sweeping Day is now     4     public holiday in China, and many people take time off from work     5     (visit) their ancestral graves.

During the holiday, families will     6     (typical) bring offerings such as fruit, flowers, and other food items to the gravesite. They will also burn incense and paper money, and may perform a variety of     7     (ceremony).

In recent years, Tomb-Sweeping Day     8    (become) a more commercialized holiday, with many companies offering products and services     9     (relate) to tomb-sweeping, such as online tomb-sweeping platforms, and other products.

Despite these changes, Tomb-Sweeping Day remains an important     10     (culture) holiday in China, and a time for families to come together to remember and honor their ancestors.

Located in Wuyuan county, Jiangxi province, an old Huizhou-style mansion has been given a unique twist with a British garden, a cozy fireplace, and a bar counter,     1     (remain) in harmony with traditional Chinese style despite the Western decor.

The elegant house     2     (own) by British citizen Edward Gawne and his Chinese wife Liao Minxin,     3     native of Jiangxi. In 2015, the couple purchased the old mansion and decided to transform it     4    a bed-and-breakfast.

    5     (dot) with historical sites and ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties, Wuyuan has 30 traditional villages. In 2012, the county government adopted     6     (measure) for their protection and development.

“There are trees, bridges, flowing water, and beautiful Huizhou-style houses. It is how I imagined traditional Chinese culture would look,” says Gawne, one of the first foreigners to adopt an old building in the county. The Qing Dynasty-era house,     7     was over two centuries old, had fallen into disrepair. “The house was uninhabitable, and the stairs had even collapsed,” Liao recalls.

After nearly two years of renovation with the help of     8     (globe) designers and architects, their Chinese-English-style B&B     9     (start) operations in 2017.

About 90 percent of their guests are foreigners, and they can     10     (thorough) enjoy the beauty of Chinese traditional villages and learn about the culture and folk customs of Wuyuan and Jiangxi.

Mining has seen ups and downs but traditional condiment (调味品) continues to appeal. Any mention of Zigong, Sichuan province, reminds people    1     its salt production and, until recently, this was    2     important source of revenue (财政收入).

The city, about 200 kilometers from Chengdu has a history of mining salt    3     (stretch) back 2,000 years. The salt was sold all over Sichuan and other provinces, and was consumed by one-tenth of China’s population. The salt is from wells. One of them, the Shenhai well, was opened in 1835, and is still in    4     (operate). With a depth of 1,001.42 meters, it is among the world’s deepest of its kind and    5     (current) produces around 2,000 kilograms of salt per day. Visitors to the well can buy packs of iodine-free salt    6     (mine) just three days earlier.

But, during Spring Festival,     7     ends with the Lantern Festival on the 15^th day of the first lunar month — falling on Sunday this year — more people from around the country flock to Zigong    8     (view) its world-famous lanterns. Viewing lanterns became a Spring Festival custom in Zigong during the Tang Dynasty. Since then, the    9     (city) lantern show has been held in more than 70 countries and regions around the world, becoming a calling card of both Zigong and China. The popular show    10     (start) from the economic dilemma in the 1980s, when Zigong’s economy over-relying on a single product became a problem.

Hundreds of people got to experience China without boarding     1     international flight, thanks to a recent event at the Chinese embassy(大使馆).

A Chinese tea ceremony, dance and folk music, food-tasting, and much more     2     (be)part of the celebration when the Chinese embassy along with Embassy Experiences, a local organization for     3     (professional)in Washington DC, jointly held an open house “Cultural Night” on Jan.12.

In her welcoming speech, Xu Xueyuan, the chargé d’affaires(临时代办)at the embassy, said that Chinese culture is the product     4     a 5,000-year civilization and is the shared heritage of the 1.4 billion Chinese people, of     5     overseas Chinese worldwide are proud.

Xu said that intercultural exchanges increase mutual learning and     6     (deep)friendships. She noted that China-US people-to-people exchanges have been stopped by the pandemic over the past three years. But China substantially simplified border-control measures for travelers to China as of Jan. 8.

“You are welcome     7     (visit)China in the future to experience Chinese culture in person. I believe that you     8     (see)an ancient yet modern, an open and progressing country,” said Xu, citing Confucius’ saying that “how     9     (delight)we are to have friends coming from afar”.

“People-to-people exchange, learning about culture, and learning about backgrounds, show that we are not so far     10     (part),” said Gregory Bland, a CEO, after the celebration.

Many people around the world may know that paper is one of the Four Great Inventions of ancient Chinese civilization,    1    few would know that more than 1,500 years ago, ancient Chinese craftsmen invented a new type of paper,    2    was called Xuan paper and used mainly for writing and painting.

Xuan paper was first made in ancient Xuan Prefecture, now    3    (know) as Jingxian County in Anhui Province. The traditional process of making Xuan paper is    4     (extreme) demanding and involves over 100 steps. The whole process can take as long as two years    5    (complete), and the skills have been passed down for    6    (generation).

Xuan paper is highly water absorbent, making it a perfect medium for conveying artistic effect in both Chinese calligraphy and ink wash painting. In addition, Xuan paper    7    (design) to be able to last for more than 1,000 years and still keep the freshness of the ink and color on it.

Today in Jingxian County, there    8     (be) many Xuan paper factories and workshops, where the paper is still made by master craftsmen using traditional techniques. And because of    9    (it) long history and the essential role it has played     10    the culture of Chinese painting and calligraphy, Xuan paper was included on the first list of China’s national intangible cultural heritages(非物质文化遗产)in 2006.

For Greek photographer George Doupas, Beijing is home now. During the past decade, he has been photographing the city, capturing its beauty     1     sharing these photos online and in exhibitions.

“This     2     (true) represents Beijing — the old and the new, nicely mixing together,” Doupas said while showing his photograph of the Zhihua Temple, a delicate Ming Dynasty building. It     3     (locate) in front of a modern office building, Galaxy SOHO, which features weaving bridges and interlocking passageways.

With rich historical heritage, Beijing     4     (be) an important center of traditional Chinese culture since the Ming Dynasty. Doupas often gets     5     (lose) in the city’s splendid ancient architecture. Meanwhile, he is also amazed by the modern city     6    (combine) high-end businesses and various industries. “It is fascinating to see a rapidly-developing city that invests so much effort in preserving its past, which is     7     I decided to pursue my career here,” he said.

Doupas is determined to continue with his career in China, hoping to serve as     8     bridge between China and the West. The     9     (display) that show his photos about Beijing have attracted a large audience in Greece and the Czech Republic.

“I call Beijing my home now,” he said, “I’ll keep sharing photos of China     10     the rest of the world.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday signed legislation (法规) that makes Chinese Lunar New Year a state holiday. The move recognizes the diversity of cultures that Asian Americans have brought to California, the third     1     (large) state in the US.

The legislation lets any state employee take eight hours of vacation, annual leave or compensatory leave (补休)     2     (celebrate) Chinese New Year.

In a     3     (sign)letter, Newsom emphasized the diversity and cultural significance that Asian Americans represented in California and     4     (encourage)all Californians to participate in the festival.

Lunar New Year is celebrated by thousands of Asian and Pacific Islander Californians at community events that illustrate     5     state’s rich cultural history and commitment to racial, religious, and cultural diversity. Many jurisdictions (管辖区) in California have already made Lunar New Year an     6     (office) school holiday.

Also on Friday, a ceremony     7     (hold)in San Francisco’s city hall to raise China’s national flag in celebration of the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the     8     (people)Republic of China.

Zhang Jianmin, China’s consul general (总领事) in San Francisco, raised the flag with Meron Foster, a senior officer at the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Protocol. Zhang expressed his gratitude     9     San Francisco’s very genuine gesture of friendship” toward China,     10     he spoke to an audience of us elected representatives, business figures and community members.