The Year of the Dragon comes with inspiration for creativity and the power to bring big ideas     1    life.

Designer Wang Zijian’s Dragon Out of Water, a creative tea infuser (泡茶器),shines on the wall at the exhibition of the winning works of the 2024 Global Zodiac Design Competition at the Beijing Overseas Cultural Exchange Center.     2     (it) cute dragon design and special function are bound to appeal to young consumers. “It’s     3    unique product, and we expect a positive response from young customers,” Wang told Beijing Review.

The item belongs to China Chic, or guochao, also     4     (know) as “national wave”,    5    refers to products of all sorts including traditional Chinese cultural elements. These products    6     (embrace) by the country’s younger generations in recent years. According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, Gen Z    7     (account) for 74 percent of consumers of China Chic goods in 2022, and the search volume of China Chic products has increased five times over the past decade.

As a young designer, Wang hopes     8     (capture) young consumers with his creative interpretation of dragons. “I’ve been    9    (thorough) studying the dragon’s historical connotations (言外之意) and the     10     (psychology) characteristics of Gen Z consumers,” the 34-year-old designer told Beijing Review.

A group of Chinese researchers issued a data map of the soil organic carbon (SOC) content for global black soil areas,     1     (reveal) the quantification of agroecosystems and global food security, according to the recent issue of the journal Remote Sensing of Environment.

Research has shown that carbon cycle is     2     (significant) influenced by agricultural soils. The accuracy mapping of SOC content can help to clarify the carbon sequestration capacity (碳汇能力), quantify agroecosystem and contribute     3    global food security. But it is still challenging to acquire     4     (rely) SOC content databasets.

The study     5     (publish) in the journal was done by researchers from the Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. According to the journal, the researchers     6     (collect) more than 191,000 scenes of remote sensing images and elevation model data, and used meta-learning convolutional neural network model     7     (generate) high-resolution data map for global black soil regions.

The data in the study indicates that the SOC content in the global black soil regions shows a decreasung trend, which can be divided into the significant decrease phase from 1984 to 2000,     8     the moderate decrease phase from 2001 to 2021.

The result from the study also shows that the four major black soil     9     (region) in the world have different rates of SOC decline. The SOC decline rates of the Russian-Ukrainian Plain and the Pampas Plain of South America are higher than     10     of the northeast China and the Mississippi River Basin in North America.

Butter arguably makes everything better — even tea. Yak (牦牛) butter tea, a traditional drink of China’s Tibetan ethnic group, is catching on with its     1     (salt) and unexpected flavor.

For Jason, who works at Café Himalaya in New York City,     2     butter in the cup of tea before him ideally comes from a yak.     3    , in New York yak butter is pretty hard to come by, so Jason, as well as anyone who orders it at Café Himalaya, has to make do with butter     4     a cow. Back in Tibet, yak butter is plentiful, yet no one knows exactly when yak butter     5     (add) to hot tea for the first time.

The     6     (introduce) of this hot butter tea to Tibet provided Tibetans with warmth and supplemented their meager (贫乏的) diet. Also known as Tibetan medicine, it is believed to be able to     7     (sharp) one’s mind and body. Today it is part of Tibetan hospitality to offer guests butter tea and refill the bowl again and again until it’s time for goodbyes — at which point a polite guest will drink up     8     is left.

To non-Tibetans, yak butter may taste strange at first as it makes for a very different taste than the sweet butter     9     (produce) by corn-fed cows. Some of them find it helpful     10     (think) of it as a sort of light soup rather than as tea.

The 2.4-km-long Peljesac Bridge (佩列沙茨大桥), connecting Croatia’s mainland with the Peljesac Peninsula on the country’s southern Adriatic coast,     1     (be) a Belt and Road Initiative project built by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) .

The bridge has     2     (significant) improved people’s lives, cut travel time to the Adriatic coast and increased     3     (economy) opportunities for the region. “This bridge is not a luxury; it is our     4     (necessary),” said Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic when the bridge was opened.

The construction team attached great importance     5     environmental protection. While     6     (build) the bridge, they took different measures to create     7     environmentally friendly site. A bubble curtain, a measure to reduce noise caused by underwater construction,     8     (apply) to decrease the disturbance to the wildlife in the sea and neighboring residents. In addition, oil containment zones were set up at the site     9       (prevent) possible oil leaks.

“I have worked on some other big projects in Europe, but none compare with the Peljesac Bridge project,” Selma Knudsen said,     10     worked as a commercial coordinator on the Peljesac Bridge project.

The Chinese culture of Fengshui has a long history     1     is an important discipline in ancient Chinese civilization. Fengshui explores the relationship between humans and their environment, believing that geographic     2     (surround) and layouts have a profound impact     3     one’s life and fortune. It is believed that by arranging things     4     (appropriate), one can harmonize the energies of the natural world. One of     5     core principles of Chinese Fengshui is the theory of Yin and Yang, and the Five Elements. According to this theory, the natural world     6     (classify) into five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Fengshui makes use of these elements to balance the energy of the environment, hereby     7     (enhance) people’s well-being and fortune. Additionally, Fengshui     8     (emphasis) the selection of directions and layouts to bring     9     (significance) changes to one’s life and fortune. Hence, in the construction and layout of houses, people plan and design     10     (base) on the principles of Fengshui.

Scientists at South Korea’s Yonsei University have created a new type of hybrid (杂交) rice that not only has a meaty pink color but is also packed with beef protein (蛋白质) and fat cells.

Rice is already one of the most nutritious foods available in nature, but thanks to some scientific “magic", it could soon become     1     sustainable (可持续的) alternative to meat. The new hybrid grains are firmer than natural grains, and when     2     (cook) they maintain their traditional appearance. While the new rice doesn't yet taste like beef, it does offer an     3     (enjoy) flavor experience, which is characteristic of meat. Thanks to the animal cells, this new pink rice could one day become a complete meal by itself,     4     (guarantee) a sufficient, sustainable food supply for the whole world.

“Imagine obtaining all the nutrients we need     5    cell-cultured protein rice,” said Park So-hyeon, co-author of the study. He said the team     6     (experiment) with different types of food products, but the models they got weren't as successful.

In the future, scientists plan to use sustainable supplies of cells     7    can be maintained in the lab. For now, the percentage of protein in the hybrid rice is still     8     ( fair) low. So they are also exploring the     9     (possible) of lacing (掺入) the rice with other types of meat or fish, in order to satisfy different tastes.     10     (replace) meat actually, researchers need to increase the rice's protein content significantly.

Trends popular among the youth such as “China chic” and the growing influence of young consumers have driven the development of hanfu industry in recent years. Among the various     1     (style), the horse face skirt has emerged as the most popular item.

    2    (combine) classical elegance with modern simplicity, the horse face skirt is said to perfectly suit the contemporary culture and lifestyle of young people, making     3     a fashion icon (标志). This trend has gained popularity in Luoyang city, Central China’s Henan province,    4     numerous performers recently showcased these beautiful skirts in their acts, with many visitors alike     5     (dress) in the elegant horse face skirts. In Caoxian county of Shandong province, one of the country’s hanfu production and sales centers, the sales     6     the horse face skirts during last Spring Festival holiday     7     (increase) dozens of times compared to usual volumes. Actually, the skirt has become a very popular     8     (choose) for gifts.

The current popularity of hanfu in the country is believed     9     (indicate) more than a fashion trend; it     10     (represent) a deeper connection to Chinese tradition and cultural identity.

Known as the roof of the world, the Tibet Autonomous Region has witnessed steady progress in economic and    1    (society) development.

To promote    2    (it) splendid natural scenery and rich cultural heritage,    3    5th China Xizang Tourism and Culture Expo was held from June 16 to 18 in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet and was attended by 612 companies from home and abroad. Xizang is the name of Tibet in Chinese.

“This international tourism and cultural expo aims to build a professional and international exhibition platform to showcase the    4    (beautiful) of Tibet’s ecology, culture, history and the new achievements of socialism modernization of the region,” Hu Heping, minister of culture and tourism, said when addressing the opening ceremony of the expo.

    5    (host) by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the government of Tibet Autonomous Region, various activities    6    (launch) including a keynote forum and a tourism marketing promotion conference.

At the event, six scenic counties—Markham, Bomi , Metog , Tsona, Dingri and Burang—were highlighted, offering a diverse range of natural    7    (wonder) in the region, such as snowcapped mountains, vast grasslands, deserts, lakes and glaciers. All are along the national highway G219, the    8    (long) such route in the country,    9    covers more than 10,000 kilometers.

Tibet welcomed 288.4 million visitors from all over the world from 2012 to 2022,    10    (generate ) tourism revenue of nearly 375.3 billion yuan.

Stamp collecting has recently emerged as a fresh and innovative approach for young people to document their travels. Instead of     1     (mere) taking photos with famous landmarks,     2     (enthusiast) of this new trend eagerly explore every corner of various attractions, museums, and shops during their journeys in search     3     various stamps. They imprint the stamps, usually with single or multicolored pictures of the scenic spots or images of famous people on postcards or in travel journals, thus     4     (create) a unique memory of their travels. Free or paid, each stamp serves as a representation of the visitor’s     5     (present) at that specific location, becoming a     6     (cherish) part of their memories.

Shi Junchu, 29, from Yunnan province, came across stamp collecting three years ago while traveling in Wuhan, Hubei province. She found it to be a better way of commemorating her travels    7     purchasing souvenirs (纪念品), so she carries a specially prepared notebook for collecting stamps whenever she travels.

“Stamp collecting has added more meaning to my travels. Turning the pages of those notebooks     8     (feel) somewhat like looking at photos. I can recall     9     happened back then just by turning to a page the delicious food I had, and the fun experiences I enjoyed, she said.

She currently operates a private museum in Kunming. Since last October, she has also introduced stamp-collecting services     10    (encourage) more visitors to explore the museum.

Following the barbecue-induced travel craze to the city of Zibo in East China, Chinese social media has once again highlighted the next internet-famous city worthy of     1     (explore).

This time it’s Tianshui, a low-key city in China’s Gansu province that     2     (take) the spotlight recently. It has attracted considerable attention     3     food enthusiasts and social media influencers online,     4     (celebrate) the city’s iconic dish of hot pot.

Known as Tianshui Malatang, which     5     (literal) means spicy and hot, the local dish is popular for its large portion of skewered meat, vegetables,     6     hand-made potato noodles in a pot of boiling broth (肉汤).

Two food bloggers, with over 3 million followers in their account on the popular Chinese Weibo,     7     (be) among the influencers praising the deliciousness of Tianshui Malatang. Their vlogs show eager food enthusiasts lining up on the streets, many of     8     traveled from cities far away.

Dong Liangyan, 29, from Daqing in Heilongjiang province,     9     (locate) more than 2,000 km away from Tianshui, told Xinhua that she was absolutely delighted     10     (enjoy) the local delicacy.