Jiading--Centuries of History, Decades of Change

A book entitled “Jiading–Centuries of History, Decades of Change” by American writer Kate Baker has recently been published in Shanghai. New book launch was held last week at the Old China Hand Style, a major    1    of a series of walking guide books called “Beyond the Concession: Six Walks in Shanghai’s Other Districts.” And Baker’s “Jiading” runs the fourth among the six.

From a foreign point of view, the book has    2    the history of Jiading District back between the year Tang Dynasty(618-907) and the Song Dynasty(960-1279), when Jiading had been “a leading economic and intellectual influence in the region long before Shanghai became a major trading port,” as Bakeris     3    in her book.

Baker first landed in Shanghai in 2011 with her husband, an engineer with Ford, who was sent to work in Shanghai to prepare for the    4    of the Lincoln brand in China. “I and my husband have been traveling around the world in the past 20 years,” Baker said at a(n)    5    with Shanghai Daily. “Wherever I go, I would jump into the local history and culture quickly and deeply.”

Having taken a 15-month online course of Chinese with Harvard’s “ChinaX”, Baker started    6    out on her own. An occasional excursion into the north west of Shanghai, she “discovered” and fell in love with Jiading. Since then, she has visited Jiading    7    , bringing family, friends, and tour groups. At the end of 2013, the Jiading Tourism Bureau officially invited Baker to write a book on Jiading.

With up-to-date facts, useful information and    8    pictures, Baker’s “Jiading” is a well researched guide about interesting areas less than one hour from Shanghai. There are chapters on celebrating the seasonal and agricultural festivals that are unique to the region; stories of    9    figures living in Jiading; changes to the Nanxiang Old Town; tours to numerous gardens, museums and temples; and the development of outdoor recreational activities in Jiading’s Anting Town, such as the F1 car racing, horse riding and golf.

With good public    10    and enough green space, Baker sees Jiading a high growth district of Shanghai, which offers a quality of lifestyle and tourism. “I see a better-planned and forward-thinking of the district government. And I sincerely thank the people of Jiading who welcomed me to their community and trusted me with their narrative,” Baker says.

Zhang Hanliang, a martial arts teacher at Tianshui Normal University in Gansu province, has produced many traditional Chinese martial arts videos in the past years,     1     sixteen million viewers at home and abroad on the online     2     Bilibili.

Zhang, now 35 years old, has been     3     martial arts since she was seven. Thanks to her hard work, Zhang won her first sword (剑) championship in Gansu province at 13. She then got sword and spear titles at a     4     level when she was 17, and at 20, she won a series of championship titles in various categories. In 2007, Zhang began to work as a martial arts teacher at Tianshui Normal University, getting new     5     such as first-class national athlete and first-class national judge of martial arts.

In addition to her daily teaching tasks, Zhang has been     6     to France, Russia, Malaysia and other countries many times to teach martial arts. “Martial arts can be a bridge for     7     exchanges between China and other countries,” said Zhang, adding that she wanted to     8     martial arts to the audience through the     9    . And she hoped more and more foreigners could     10     and love martial arts.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival (樱花节) held in Washington D.C. is creating an online experience for people to enjoy while practicing social distance. People can have     1     to this experience through the official website. It includes not only online tours of the blossoming trees and videos of the performers who were originally scheduled     2     at the festival. The website also allows children to enjoy the     3     by teaching them how to create several festival-related arts and crafts.