2 . The Rise of “China-chic”

Over past years, guochao, or “China-chic” has been gaining popularity among Chinese consumers. Guochao conveys the cultural heritage and values of China.     1    . “China-chic” is rising, but what is it?

The idea of guochao was first borrowed from some international brands, and began to win over Chinese consumers in 2015.     2    . In 2018, Chinese sportswear band Li-Ning presented its Wu Dao (the principles of Taoism) collection at the New York Fashion Week. It featured bright red color and Chinese characters. More brands have since followed, heralding (预示) the early period of guochao.

    3    . This was a period when applications of big data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and 5G technology hit the market one after another. Domestic tech companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and DJI made headlines.

In its third stage, guochao became more common in everyday life. Over the past decade, guochao has expanded from consumer goods to experiential products. As consumers are showing greater interest in cultural identity and creativity, productions like the TV program National Treasure, and the dance show Night Banquet in Tang Dynasty Palace integrate cultural and historical elements with the latest audio-visual technologies.     4    .

Nowadays, guochao is moving to the next stage. No matter how the trend evolves, Chinese people’s positive attitude toward the country’s development and their recognition of and growing confidence in national culture won’t change.     5    . Seen from a broader perspective, guochao mirrors the rise of China, a country eager to make its presence felt globally. Guochao is a style, but more importantly, it transmits culture and values.

When it comes to foods that are more than worthy of being posted all over social media, Chinese sugar painting, a traditional Chinese form of folk art, deserves some time in the spotlight. Hot liquid sugar is used     1     (create) two-dimensional figures like small animals. Sugar art is pretty popular     2     children, but it’s beautiful enough to interest anyone.

Hot sugar is poured from a small spoon onto a flat surface where the outline of the figure     3     (draw) with a thick stream of sugar. Then     4     (relative) thinner sugar is added to support the outline and fill in the figure of the body in a     5     (combine) of zig-zags or other patterns, supported by a wooden stick. “Painting” artistic pieces from melted sugar     6     (differ) from regular painting. Because the hot sugar cools down very quickly, the painter has to work quickly,     7     (make) sure he gets every shape just right.

Customers traditionally spin     8     arrow on a wheel. It lands on a certain figure     9     is inspired by nature or wildlife in forms of a dragon, fish, monkey, bird or flower basket. This ancient Sichuan art form might not be as common` as it once was, but it still has the power to amaze     10     (tourist) who come across talented street artists that make these amazing creations.

Chinese fans seem to have special meanings in Chinese culture. I’ve     1    (receive) a number of them as gifts from my Chinese friends. The fans are very pretty. You may have noticed that almost all female figures in     2     (tradition) Chinese paintings carry a silk fan. In the movies of     3    1930s and 1940s, fans are a very visible article for Shanghai women.     4    (usual) the structure of the fans is made of sand wood and the faces are made of silk or paper. Because the fans always have sweet smell, women     5     use them appear even more attractive. Fans are probably one of the most appropriate     6    (expression) of noble female.

Men also use fans. But these fans are quite often much     7    (big). Men’s fans often use valuable materials for that structure and the faces are always     8    (paint) with plants or landscapes. As a result     9    open-door policy, fans have become popular again not for people to use at home,     10     as a gift for foreigners. I heard westerners appreciate these gifts. As fans are small, inexpensive and typically Chinese, many people like to use them as gifts from the overseas trips.

Guan Yu, an ancient general known for his loyalty and bravery in battles, has been widely worshipped (敬奉). The Temple of Guan Yu in Xiezhou, North China’s Shanxi Province, is the     1    (large) one among countless temples worshipping the general across the country and also a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level.

In 2020, a research institute     2     studied the culture behind this folk belief in Guan Yu was founded in Xiezhou, and eight graduate students were hired. This summer, researchers of     3     institute are compiling chronicles (编年史) for the temple, and studying the fine elements of traditional culture contained in the temple.

Across the country, historical and cultural heritage sites are protected and studied to discover and learn about traditional Chinese culture, amid the nation’s efforts     4    (build) a modern Chinese civilization.     5     total, there are 5,058 major historical and cultural sites protected at the national level. “    6    (witness) the long history and splendid culture of the Chinese nation in the past years, the historical and cultural sites offer     7    (we) rich ‘spiritual nutrients’ in the midst of building a modern Chinese civilization,” said Gao Jiangtao, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In Shanxi, with local protection work     8    (trouble) due to understaffing, a project was started in 2022 to enroll a total of 600 students for a span of five years,     9    (specific) for 117 localities across the province in need of protection professionals. These students will     10    (offer) general education on relics protection during college.

If you have not heard of Yangshi Lei, the     1    (honour) name of the Lei family responsible for imperial architecture during the Qing Dynasty, then you have missed an important detail about the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and Yuanmingyuan Garden.

All the above great cultural relics and popular tourist attractions have been included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List,     2     surprisingly enough, they are all designed by the Lei family.     3     (represent) the great achievements of science and technology in ancient China, their architectural practice covered a wide range of city planning, imperial palaces, gardens, temples, princes’ residences and schools.

Yangshi    4     (refer) to architect or architecture in Chinese. Yangshifang, the then government authority similar to the National Architecture Design Institute today, was in charge of site     5     (select), design and construction of imperial architectures.

    6     (amaze), eight generations of the Lei family were appointed director of Yangshifang consecutively from 1662 to 1911.

With so many architectural    7     (work) on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Lei Family is    8     unique phenomenon in the architectural history throughout the world. Apart from the grand architectures, China has another treasure left by the Lei family - design drafts. In the National Library of China alone, there     9     (be) up to 20,000 architectural design drafts, each of     10     plays an important role in the research of the history of the Qing Dynasty and how architecture developed at the time.

Poetry    1     (communicate) in words. To do that    2     (successful), it must have something important to say, expressing it in a unique way. Whether you are writing poetry yourself or analysing (分析) poems     3     (write) by someone else, you should be thinking about these two broad categories: what is being said, and how it is being expressed.

What is being said may be something unforgettable or something funny, something deeply emotional or something that has just made the writer stop and think. Whatever it is, the theme of the poem will be something worth     4     (say). If you are writing a poem yourself and are not very    5     (experience), it’s best to choose a topic you feel deeply about. Writing a poem     6     begins with ‘I remember’ is a good way to focus your attention       7     something really memorable.

However, two poems could easily have     8     same theme and yet be completely different. What makes     9     (they) different? How they are expressed is the key. It is the way the poet writes that you need to analyse if you are writing about a poem, and if you are writing one yourself, you must choose the form and the words which suit what you want     10     (express).

A cultural tourism promotion event titled “Hometown of Confucius, Hospitable Shandong” opened in Rome Italy, on May 6,2023.

    1     (host) by the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the event’s opening ceremony    2     (attend) by more than 100 guests, including government officials from both sides, as well as    3    (representative) from Italy.

Shandong is    4    large province in terms of population, economy, culture, and tourism along the east coast of China. It has a population of more than 100 million and is the third    5    (large) economy in China. It has rich cultural tourism resources as it is    6     Mount Tai rises, the Yellow River flows into the sea, and Confucius was born. “Hospitable Shandong” has become an     7     (influence) tourism brand(品牌).

Shandong is willing to work with Italian partners    8     (strengthen) dialogue,enhance trust, and deepen cooperation, drawing a new chapter in the cultural and tourism cooperation and exchanges    9     the two places, said a senior official from the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

During the opening ceremony, Riccardo Busi, president of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP), announced the decision to establish the China Coordination Office of the FIAP in Shandong province,    10     (sign) a strategic cooperation agreement with the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

There is a special festival in Thailand that people and animals celebrate together. It’s a festival for Thailand’s elephants—the Surin Elephant Round-up and Elephant Show,     1    takes place in the third week of November. People in Surin are good at training elephants. The festival aims     2     (show) the importance of elephants to Thailand and people’s good relationship    3    them.　

    4    attracts tourists most is the elephant parade. People     5     (dress) in traditional Thai clothes and they decorate their elephants colourfully. After the parade, the elephants gather at a place to enjoy breakfast. They will eat up all the fruit     6     (serve) to them within minutes.   

There are many other interesting activities at the festival, too. For example, soccer     7     (match) and dancing are held among elephants to show their     8     (strong) and skills.   

Elephants have always played     9    important role in Thailand’s history and culture. People used to use them in wars and they are now important for the logging industry and tourism. An elephant can carry about 500 kg logs. They are     10     (environment) friendly compared to machines.