We got to the cafe an hour before Anna was scheduled arrive. Learning that they wanted to give Anna a birthday surprise, a friendly waiter was more than happier to be our partner. Some colourful balloon were found by him, for which we decorated the cafe. We had just done all the work while Anna came into sight. We greeted her with our smiles or the gift we had prepared before. Anna stood there, with tears filled her eyes. When I handed the gift to her, she was too excited that she couldn’t help screaming. “This is the best birthday surprise I have ever been received!” she cried, hugging me tightly.

Ramie (苎麻), the main clothing material for Chinese people since ancient times, is also known as “Chinese grass” in the world. The ramie output in China     1     (account) for more than 90% that of the world. The linen (亚麻布) woven with ramie is     2     (consequent) called “Grass Cloth (夏布)”. Since ramie raw material has a thick gum and is irregular in texture, each step of procedure is purely manual. In that case, the weavers should complete more than a dozen steps     3     they finish making the clothes.

Right now, in the spacious exhibition hall are placed ancient pure wooden looms (织布机), along with many grass cloth products, all looking so     4     (fascinate) to the eyes.

In old times, on a farmhouse engaged     5     the production of grass cloth, you could always see a busy scene     6     workers rinsed (清洗) the thin fibers between the ramie skin and the straw, and got the ramie silk as the raw material of grass cloth. Today, only some farmers are making grass cloth, most of them     7     (work) in family-run workshops.

Huang Xiuying,     8     only seventh-generation inheritor of the family business, has carried out bold     9     (innovation), integrating the aesthetics of the times, and using popular art design and cultural packaging     10     (give) grass cloth more sense of the times.