The Great Wall of China was built in sections over a period of around 2,000 years, the most famous parts of     1     were built from stone. However, in some areas it was built using “rammed earth (夯土).” This is when soil and rocks are pressed together. Over time, wind and rain can easily wear down rammed earth, so scientists have often questioned how these old sections of the Great Wall     2     (manage) to survive for such a long time.

A group of researchers from China Agricultural University examined     3    370-mile-long section of the wall and found that more than two thirds of it     4     (cover) by biocrust (生物土壤结皮). The scientists took some     5     (sample) of the biocrust back to their lab for testing and discovered that the natural material was     6     (actual) stronger than the rammed earth. Some pieces of the plant-based layer were up     7     three times stronger. This means that the biocrust has strengthened the wall and protected it from     8     (destroy) by weather over the years.

These findings could be important for people who manage ancient structures around the world. Although biocrust may not look     9     (appeal), its natural ability to preserve things could be a very useful tool for experts attempting     10     (protect) precious ancient buildings.

For some, cloning (克隆) is a problem, since it means that the awkward day     1     somebody proposes cloning people is unavoidable. For others, it will help medical researchers mass-produce animals for     2     (they) experiments.

That sort of cloning is the goal of Dr Sun Qiang of the Chinese Academy of Science. In 2018, Dr Sun made headlines by     3     (raise) a crab-eating monkey. The following year, he performed     4     same trick with five crab-eaters. On January 16, 2024, he reported in Nature Communications that he has invented a better way to clone monkeys in quantity and that he has in his lab a healthy two-year-old male monkey     5     (produce) with the new method.

Cloning has become     6     (popularity) since it gave the world Dolly, a sheep that, in 1996, became the first animal to be cloned from an adult with this method. But success     7     (rate) are low. For most species only, 1—3% of implants produce a surviving new-born. Even for cattle, where the odds are better, they are still only 5—20%. At the moment, the only people making money from cloning are companies that clone pets and horses. If cloning animals is to become a     8     (scientific) useful technology, then better ways of doing it have to     9     (find).

“    10     we have just obtained one healthy baby monkey from 11 implants, it’s not a bad outcome for the first trial of a new technique,” said Dr Sun.

Xiangsheng, or crosstalk, is arguably the most popular comic performance in China, appealing to people of all ages.

Xiangsheng first appeared in China during the Ming Dynasty. But it was not until the middle and late Qing Dynasty     1     xiangsheng, established itself as     2     unique and independent art form.

Performed mainly in Beijing or Tianjin dialect, xiangsheng is     3     (essential) known for its humorous and satirical (讽刺的) nature. It could be a comedic monologue, dialogue or multiplayer sketch.

As the     4     (early) form of xiangsheng, dankou, or monologue, is performed by an actor who mainly cracks jokes or simply narrates humorous stories. It’s known as qunkou when it is performed by three or more people.

But most of the time, xiangsheng is performed by two actors,     5     is called duikou. The two actors usually discuss or argue over a subject or a social phenomenon     6     a satirical and humorous manner. The main purpose is     7     (cause) laughter among the audience.

In the early years, xiangsheng performers typically came from a humble background,     8     (start) off as street performers. The most popular     9     (venue) of xiangsheng used to be Beijing Tianqiao, Tianjin Quanyechang and Nanjing Confucius Temple. Later, they began to perform in teahouses and theaters. With the     10     (arrive) of radio and television, xiangsheng began to reach audiences everywhere.

Before moving to the city of Xi’an, capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Robin Gilbank had     1     (limit) knowledge about the city despite a keen interest in Chinese culture.

“Like many foreigners     2     had never been here, I knew nothing about the historic city except for terracotta warriors at that time,” recalled the 41-year-old scholar from North Yorkshire in Britain.

Enchanted by its profound history and distinctive culture, Gilbank applied     3     a teaching position at Northwest University in Xi’an in 2008. “Shaanxi boasts (拥有) many famous writers. So I decided to translate their works into English so as to provide a new window for the world     4     (get) a glimpse (一瞥) of the real and diversified life here,” said Gilbank.

    5     (work) with Hu Zongfeng, dean of School of Foreign Languages of Northwest University, Gilbank travels     6     (wide) in Shaanxi and learns the dialect from locals to have a deep understanding of customs. They have translated over 30 Chinese novels into English.

The past decade witnesses his deeper friendship with the     7    (native) and the centuries-old city. In 2018, he was awarded as one of the 40 most     8     (influence) foreign experts during the past 40 years since the initiation of China’s reform and opening-up policy.

Since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed by China in 2013, China     9     (open) wider. Gilbank’s experience is a microcosm (缩影) of the story of     10     increasing number of foreigners settling down in Xi’an. They are kick-starting a new journey in the open and livable city with a population of 13 million.

Kyrgyzstan hosts Chinese culture exhibition

An exhibition of Chinese culture “Walking the Silk Road, Allowing Cultures to Integrate,” devoted to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was recently held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

On Tuesday, Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Edil Baisalov, Charge d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan Li Baojie, representatives of educational institutions of Kyrgyzstan and China and business representatives     1     (attend) the event.

Baisalov said the BRI has changed the entire region, including Kyrgyzstan. It     2     (actual) had a huge impact on the political and economic situation around the world. Li said that over the past ten years, the BRI     3     (develop) from concept to action and has become     4     important platform for international cooperation. He said that Kyrgyzstan and China have been cooperating within the framework of the BRI for more than ten years and have achieved fruitful results.

Li noted that     5     (culture) interaction and exchange are an important part of the initiative. The representative of the Chinese embassy said it is very important     6     (hold) cultural exchange exhibitions,     7     will help the Kyrgyz people to better understand Chinese traditional culture and folk customs, and also help strengthen mutual (相互的)     8     (understand) between the two peoples.

The exhibition featured stone carving with a Spring and Autumn period theme, wood carving with the theme “New Year’s Pictures,” as well     9     paper-cutting. The exhibition was organized by the Kaifeng Management Committee of the Pilot Free Trade Zone of China (Henan), the Kyrgyzstan-China Friendship Association and other     10     (organization).

Plan your Chengdu tour? When night falls, it is     1     (undoubted) advisable to have a leisurely walk in the old area of the three alleys (巷子), namely Kuan Alley, Zhai Alley and Jing Alley in the downtown. These three alleys are often called “Kuan Zhai Xiang Zi” in Chinese.

All the three alleys have been gentrified (改造) to be like the old alleys     2     (date) back to the Qing Dynasty in Chengdu. It is one of the three historical relic protection     3     (site) in Chengdu. In the early Qing Dynasty, the Qing government built     4     walled city here as the living place for the Eight Banners soldiers     5     their families. In the sixtieth year of Kangxi’s Reign, General Nian Gengyao in Chengdu recommended the government     6     (send) 1,600 people and station them in Chengdu permanently.

During the fortieth year of Qianlong’s Reign, in order to     7     (strength) the southwest border, the court set up the Jiangjun Yamen in Chengdu, built for the general of the Shao city,     8     both the soldiers and their families lived.

At one time, the walled city     9     (compose) of 42 lanes. Kuan Zhai Xiang Zi is the hutong culture extended     10     the Northern China to the Southern China.

Doctors at Gansu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) recently received     1     thank-you letter from doctors in the United States.

Xue Jianjun, director of the hospital’s anesthetic (麻醉) medicine center, received the letter from Frank Yurasek, director of acupuncture (针灸) at the Cook County Health and Hospitals Systems in Chicago.     2     (learn) how to combine TCM with Western anesthetic technology, Yurasek and co-worker Robert Fischer visited the hospital     3     a couple of weeks in September 2018.

Ding Fanfan, a doctor at Gansu Provincial Hospital of TCM, said the two US doctors     4     (attend) the morning shift meeting every day. The center also formulated a study plan for the doctors as well as courses for     5     (they) to study basic TCM theories. “They often visited the operating room to see how acupuncture     6     (use) during operations,” Ding said,     7     (add) that he was impressed by their love for TCM.

Yurasek wrote that his team had begun to use and research acupuncture-assisted anesthesia. “Combination of acupuncture and anesthesia is proving     8     (effect) in our hospital, one of the oldest and largest hospitals in the US. I’m excited to tell all of you     9     the training we received achieved here,” he said. None of the work would have been possible without the incredible training and the     10     (confident) they felt after being trained by Xue’s staff, he stressed.

Chinese wushu athlete Cao Maoyuan outperformed all others in men’s Nanquan,     1     (enable) him to gain the first gold medal of the Chengdu World University Games.

Cao, 25, a student from Chengdu Sport University,     2     (dress) in a red outfit with a green dragon picture, stole the show on the carpet as the local audience     3     (warm) cheered for him.

“I was a little nervous and excited in     4     beginning, because it was my first formal     5     (appear) at the Games,” Cao said after the competition. “I’m glad that I secured the first gold of the Games. I believe I will do better in the future.”

Wushu, or kung fu,     6     (be) the collective term for the martial art practices     7     originated and developed in China. Wushu is categorized into two main categories, namely Taolu (Routines Competition)     8     Sanda (Free-Fighting Competition). Nanquan, or Southern Fist, is part of Taolu, which consists     9     styles that originated and are popular in the southern banks of the Yangtze River. It     10     (characterize) by low stances with fewer leg techniques and a focus on short, powerful arm strikes often accompanied by vocal articulation (关节发声).

Chinese achievements in pollution control, ecological recovery and protection, and green development China     1     (make) in the past decade were highlighted at a Friday press briefing,     2     a senior official pointed out China’s     3     (participate) and leadership in global climate governance.

According to the press briefing, China has been the fastest in improving air quality and the PM 2.5 level in cities at the prefecture level and above dropped by 34.8 percent from that of 2015. Days with good air quality reached 87.5 percent. Pollution of water bodies and the soil is also     4     (effective) tackled. Ecological systems     5     (protect) and restored. National parks are set and more than 300 endangered animal and plant species saw their wild populations recover, marking achievements in protecting ecological diversity.

The country has taken     6     active part in cooperation on climate change. It has done its     7     (good) to help other developing countries to improve their climate response capacity     8     (reduce) the harmful impacts of climate change. It also has distributed over 1.2 billion yuan on climate change and trained about 2,000 officials and experts in the field of climate change     9     more than 120 developing countries.

    10     (head) forward, China will work with all parties to actively participate in the global governance of climate change.

A 5,100-year-old dam, capable of flood control and irrigation (灌溉), has been identified as China’s earliest     1     (know) water engineering project. The Xiongjialing Dam is part of the Qujialing relics site in Jingmen, China’s Hubei Province.

The dam was initially built around 5,100 years ago on a branch of the Qingmudang River. The     2     (exist) dam measures 2 meters in height, 13 meters in width and 180 meters in length. It has a water storage area to the east, equal to the size of three West Lakes, and     3     8.5-hectare irrigation area to the west, with the     4     (late) found to have been an expanse of prehistory rice field. A floodway at the northern side of the water storage area allowed for discharge (排放) of extra water during flood seasons. The dam     5     (construct) with local earth, which was mixed with plant roots     6     (increase) the structure’s toughness.

The design of the water project suggests that prehistoric     7     (ancestor) in the area had learned to control water use rather than     8     (simple) defending against floods and droughts. The Qujialing relics site is famous for witnessing the first-ever discovery     9     carbonized rice along the midstream of the Yangtze River. Researchers say the dam further illustrates that, in the Neolithic Age, the area had a mature rice-growing agriculture. That’s     10     this relies heavily on irrigation.