1 . Chinese ancient poetry was the heart and soul of Chinese ancient literature. Poems and songs have been the means of entertainment of men from the earliest times. Chinese ancient poetry was primarily written to be chanted or sung.

The poetic persona (表面形象) is a feature of classical Chinese poetry. The persona appears when the poem is written from the viewpoint of some other person. Some poems are comments on the contemporary society and life. Chinese ancient poems, although apparently simple in the first reading, have deeper and greater meanings when read intensively.

The earliest Chinese ancient poetry begins with The Book of Songs which is a collection of 305 poems. It was the first comprehensive compilation(辑)of Chinese ancient poems. Each poem in The Book of Songs was set to music and could be sung. Folk songs made up the most part of the book! Confucius, the great ancient philosopher, was fond of this book. It was also the accepted textbook of the Confucian school.

Chinese poetic history is extremely long and colorful. The Tang dynasty, the golden age of Chinese ancient poetry, produced many famous poems. Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Dynasty, was compiled by Heng Tang Tui Shi(蘅塘退士) of the Qing dynasty. This was used for very many years to teach primary students.

Almost everything is the subject of Chinese ancient poetry including marriage, agriculture, courtship(求爱), sorrow and joys, romance, heroic deeds and so on. Generally, each poem is usually composed of lines of four, five or seven syllables. Translations of Chinese ancient poems are available in books and also online. Now these beautiful poems have attracted readers all over the world.

6 . If it had not been for Fan Jinshi and her team, the world cultural heritage of Dunhuang Mogao Caves in a remote Chinese desert might have long been destroyed by sand, weather or humans.

Born in Beijing and raised in Shanghai, Fan has spent half a century fighting an uphill battle to preserve the ancient Buddhist wall paintings at Dunhuang, in Northwest China’s Gansu Province. The 1,653­-year­-old Dunhuang Mogao Caves are a huge collection of Buddhist art—more than 2,000 buddha figures and 45,000 square metres of paintings spread among 735 caves. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Archaeologist Fan was sent to Dunhuang after graduating from Peking University in 1963. While in Dunhuang, a remote village in the desert then, Fan lived in an abandoned temple. At first, she did not even dare to go out to the toilet at night. To protect the treasures from sand and dampness, Fan and other workers put doors on the caves, planted trees and started monitoring temperature and humidity in the caves. They also controlled the number of visitors.

In the late 1990s, with tourism booming nationwide since national holidays were extended, the local government planned to go public with Dunhuang Mogao Caves, but found Fan firmly in_their_way.   “The heritage would have been destroyed if it had been listed，” she said.

Dunhuang Academy has now photographed and cataloged online all the sculptures and paintings. “Despite our efforts to minimise damage, we can’t completely stop them from being eroded. But the digital database will last.”

Fan was grateful when her husband joined her in Dunhuang in 1986 after 19 years of separation. Her two sons grew up seldom with her accompany. “I have not been a good mother or wife. With regard to my family, I’m full of guilt，” she said. Fan, 81, retired four years ago as the director of Dunhuang Academy but continues her efforts as a national political adviser.

7 . Traveling abroad is becoming increasingly popular these years. Some people are afraid of making linguistic (语言的) mistakes while traveling. Actually, cultural mistakes may be more serious, which can lead to serious misunderstanding.     1     .

●Touching Someone

    2     In Mediterranean countries, if you don’t touch someone’s arm when talking to him or if you don’t greet him with kisses or a warm hug, you’ll be considered cold. However, if you backslap (拍背) someone who isn’t a family member or a good friend in Korea, you’ll make him uncomfortable.

In Thailand, the head is considered sacred — never even pat a child on the head.

●Talking over Dinner

In some countries, like China, Japan and some African nations, food is important, so don’t start chatting about your day’s adventures while everyone else is digging into dinner.     3     It’s not because your group is unfriendly, but because mealtimes are for eating, not talking.

●Removing Your Shoes or Not

Take off your shoes when arriving at the door of a London dinner party and the hostess will find you rude, but fail to remove your shoes before entering a home in Asia, Hawaii, or the Pacific Islands and you’ll be considered disrespectful. So, if you see a row of shoes at the door, start undoing your shoelaces.     4    .

Once you are on the ground of a different country, remain highly sensitive to native behavior.     5     And don’t feel offended if something seems offensive — like queue-jumping. After all, this is a global village, and we are all very different.

9 . Fantastic Fall Festivals You Won’t Want to Miss

Admission to the Seymour Apple Festival is free and so is the entertainment! More than 15,000 people from all over the region come out to take part in the activities, ranging from drawings, vendor booths, food, apple contests, bike decorating contests, and more.

The popular Marionville Apple Festival is home to countless activities and events. The carnival, pony rides, and games will keep the kids busy, while adults will enjoy watching the pie-eating contest and browsing dozens of craft vendor booths.

The Humansville Fall Festival may be hosted by a small town, but that doesn’t mean it’s lacking big fun. Perfect for all ages, this fall festival is celebrating its 70th year and will provide three full days of fun. This year’s festival will feature live music from fantastic local musicians, which will definitely make it different from the ones in other years. You’ll also find fun carnival rides, talented artisans selling their goods, and an amazing parade to wrap up the event on Saturday.

The Southside Fall Festival is perfect for family celebrations, with an alcohol-free environment and free admission. Enjoy a colorful parade and float contest, delicious food vendors, live music, karaoke, and more.

Make sure to bring the kids along for this festival that celebrates all things creative. The Fall Into Arts Festival features a host of kid-friendly activities like a lego build, sand art, bubble stations, chalk the sidewalk, a jump house, and more. Parents will have plenty to do as well, with an excellent variety of artists, festival food, a mini film festival, and much more.

Big challenges can sometimes lead to great solutions. In the 1950s, the Egyptian government hoped     1     (attempt) a new dam across the Nile to control floods, produce electricity and supply water to more farmers in the area. However, the proposal led to protests.     2     (protester) said that lots of temples and cultural relics would likely be damaged. To solve this problem, the government turned to the United Nations for help in 1959. Soon a committee     3     (establish) to limit damage to the Egyptian buildings and prevent the     4     (lose) of cultural relics. After several investigations and tests, a proposal for how to save the buildings was made.

In 1960, the work began. A year later, the first temple was moved by German engineers. Over the next 20 years, thousands of engineers and workers rescued 22 temples and     5     (count) cultural relics. Fifty countries donated nearly $80 million     6     the project.

The Aswan Dam project,     7     ended in 1980, was considered     8     great success. Not only had the countries found a path to the future without     9     (damage) the old relics, but they had also learnt that     10     was possible for countries to work together to build a better tomorrow.