Embracing the Magic of Print Media

Fan Jinshi, an archaeologist from Beijing University, first visited the Mogao caves as an undergraduate student in 1962. Despite the caves’ tough conditions, Fan was determined to study national cultural heritage (遗产)     1     stayed to pursue her dream.

Over time, Fan’s commitment to preserving national cultural heritage grew     2    (strong). She joined the Communist Party of China in 1974 and became even more determined to protect the Mogao caves when they were     3     (official) open to tourists in 1979.     4    (face) with the challenge of balancing conservation and tourism, Fan knew that a solution had to be found. She     5     (convince) that the caves’ social importance far outweighed their economic potential and that scientific protection was the key to their     6     (survive).

In the late 1980s, Fan came up with     7     innovative plan to digitize the Mogao caves, permanently preserving the murals (壁画), painted cultures, and historical data. In 2016,Digital Dunhuang was launched online, allowing people worldwide     8    (enjoy)comprehensive images of the caves.

In her eighties, Fan Jinshi is as busy as before, sparing no effort to conserve and manage the caves. She hopes that young people will carry     9     the “Mogao Spirit” and build a better Dunhuang Academy,     10     she spent her lifetime. “Let this be my epitaph(墓志铭),” Fan says, “I’ve done all I could for Dunhuang.”

9 . In his senior year of high school, Wei Fangjie happened to see a poster for recruiting PLA Air Force pilots. “The pilots on the poster looked really cool, and I got to know that a pilot is known as a profession of the brave. So, I decided to give it a try,” said Wei, 26, who now works as a flight instructor at the Air Force Aviation University.

In 2015, Wei was admitted into the Air Force Aviation University and became an Air Force pilot student. According to Wei, pilots need to not only study aviation theory but also practice difficult aerobatics (飞行特技) like rolls and loops. These moves require strong resistance to g-forces. “To do a loop, a pilot has to bear about 3g of load, which feels like three times their body weight pressing down on them,” said Wei. To build this resistance, they often do strength training like weighted squats. They also use special equipment like a spinning ladder (旋梯) to overcome dizziness.

Despite all the training, becoming a top PLA Air Force pilot remains a tough job. “During flight, pilots must carefully decide how to land, especially at night, and maintain position during formation flight,” explained Wei. He added that the key to these skills lies in continuous practice.

In the world of aviation, a balanced mindset and quick thinking are very important. One of Wei’s most unforgettable experiences was dealing with illusions (错觉) during a formation fight up above the clouds. All he could see in front of him was the lead aircraft and clouds. “I felt like I was turning all the time, but my instruments showed that my flight was level,” said Wei. “In such situations, trusting instruments is key to making sound decisions.”

But what always remains constant is the great sense of freedom and pride that Wei feels as he flies his aircraft in the sky and looks down at Earth from above. Now, as an experienced flight instructor, Wei hopes to channel his passion for aviation into the “training and development of a new generation of skilled pilots so as to contribute to the PLA Air Force’s combat readiness.”