During the summer holiday I had the chance to visit Pingtang County, Guizhou Province in southwest China. It’s     1     experience I will never forget.

Traveling to Guizhou by high-speed rail from Beijing, I     2    (astonish) at the rapid change in scenery from skyscrapers to beautiful tree-filled mountains     3     (rest) under a clear blue sky.

Upon arrival, I visited the Pingtang International Experience Planetarium, which displays China’s     4     (remark) achievements in science and space technology. The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) there is the largest one of its kind in the world. To visit FAST, visitors are not permitted     5     (bring) any electronic devices due to security measures. So they must record this once-in-a-lifetime moment with their hearts and minds.

    6    (truthful), my favorite part of the trip was my personal interaction with the local community. Following the instructions, I worked on two community farms, went hiking and swam     7     a fresh community river alongside fish. I was educated on the regional history of the Miao people     8     culture is rich in fashion, food, pottery and music.

After this adventure, my     9     (appreciate) for Chinese culture has snowballed. While I am content living and working in Beijing, Pingtang County in Guizhou has opened my eyes to the endless positive     10     (possibility) China has to offer.

The Great Wall

As a symbol of ancient Chinese civilization, the Great Wall is one of the world’s oldest and most magnificent (壮丽的) man-made scenes,     1     has a long history. Given its out-standing architectural achievement and remarkable historical influence, the Great Wall     2     (list) as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 1987, the first of     3     (it) kind in China.

The Great Wall was     4     (original) built over 2,000 years ago during the West Zhou Dynasty, and served     5     a functional military defence. It had been playing a crucial role in wars in ancient Chinese history. Therefore, it was continually to be extended in the next 2,000 years, till the end of Ming Dynasty. As a result, the Great Wall was expanded to many places in China and formed a beautiful shape.

Because its     6     (long) is 21,196. 18 km, it is widely named “Wanli Changcheng”. There are Northern Great Wall and Southern Great Wall, according to the locations.

The Great Wall is a place steeped in history and has much     7     (offer) you. For those who are fascinated (入迷的) by it and     8     (greed) for the knowledge of it, you will find massive information about it, the historical development, the background stories and its facts and figures. Whether you are a history-loving traveler     9     a lover of natural landscape, you will never get tired of the Great Wall, one of the seven     10     (wonder) in the world.

During China’s dynastic period, emperors planned the city of Beijing     1     arranged the residential areas according to social classes. The term “hutong”,     2     (original)meaning “water well” in Mongolian, appeared first during the Yuan Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, the center was the Forbidden City,     3     (surround)in concentric(同心的)circles by the Inner City and Outer City. Citizens of higher social classes     4     (permit)to live closer to the center of the circles. The large siheyuan of these high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen often     5     (feature)beautifully carved and painted roof beams and pillars(柱子). The hutongs they formed were orderly, lined by     6     (space)homes and walled gardens. Farther from the center lived the commoners and laborers. Their siheyuan were far smaller in scale and     7     (simple)in design and decoration, and the hutongs were narrower.

Hutongs represent an important cultural element of the city of Beijing. Thanks to Beijing’s long history     8     capital of China, almost every hutong has its stories, and some are even associated with historic     9     (event). In contrast to the court life and upper-class culture represented by the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven, the hutongs reflect     10     culture of grassroots Beijingers.