When it comes to intangible cultural heritage, China currently has 38 items on the UNESCO list.     1    , none of them are food-related.

    2     (make) it on the list, a candidate must have deep cultural and social meaning, UNESCO said. This is something Chinese cuisine is rich     3     .

Many important dates in China     4     (mark) with food. The Spring Festival celebrations, for example, kick off with a bowl of “eight treasure” congee (腊八粥) on the     5     (eight) day of the 12^th lunar month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

Apart from its symbolic festive meaning, Chinese cuisine shows     6     unique theory of health. While the West has a food pyramid, the philosophy of yin and yang can be found in most Chinese dishes.

In addition to health concerns, some Chinese dishes show great social     7     (function). Take the “four dishes and one soup” idea     8     an example. According to legend, the notion originated in the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang served a dinner of four dishes and one soup to officials to advise against extravagance (铺张浪费).

Although each plate of Chinese food contains years of ancestral wisdom, sometimes it’s beyond a     9     (foreign) understanding. In 2011, the China Cuisine Association made an application to put more than 30 Chinese foods and food preparation techniques on the UNESCO Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage items, but failed.

Now, the association is working on an     10     (improve) list of cuisine candidates to apply for UNESCO heritage status. And the result will be announced in November.

The number of tourists to Harbin to enjoy ice and snow activities began to increase as 2023     1     (draw) to a close. With the arrival of the New Year’s holiday, Harbin’s popularity soared to new heights. During the three-day New Year holiday, Harbin received 3.05 million tourists and made revenue of 5.91 billion yuan, both of    2     reached record highs.

Harbin spared no effort to show its enthusiasm to tourists. The city went all in,     3     (attend) to every detail to provide tourists with the best experience and memories possible. At Harbin Ice and Snow World, a lot of brand-new experiences were provided,     4     hovercrafts and bicycles on ice, Ferris wheels and hot air balloons.     5     arrival, tourists found themselves welcomed with live performances at the airport and temporary dressing rooms lined up for tourists to slide into warm clothing.

    6     (vary) topics related to Harbin have dominated the trending list across different social media platforms. For example, many of the tourists are from southern China, where     7     rarely snows. Most of them are much     8     (slim) compared to locals in Heilongjiang so they were given an affectionate nickname “southern small potato”, which quickly went viral online.

The holiday tourism boom in Harbin might as well be     9     the domestic tourism market needs to kick off the New Year. Hopefully, such     10     (sincere), hospitality and attention to detail can be seen across more cities.

China is known as the home of tea. It is said that Shennong discovered tea around 2700 B.C. At first, tea leaves     1     (chew). During the Tang dynasty,     2     (advance) were made in the processing of tea. The leaves were steamed, oxidized (氧化) and pounded into cake form. This made tea easier     3     (transport) and more pleasing to the tongue.

The earliest batch (批次) of tea is often ready to be picked before Qingming. This precious small output of tea, widely     4     (seek) after for its outstanding quality, is called Mingqian tea. The seasonal tea is known     5     its tender leaves and fresh flavor. They have     6     better flavor than the later batches which can be grown overnight.

East China’s Zhejiang Province is acknowledged as a major producer of tea. In spring, local hillsides are filled with tea workers     7    (sow) seeds on their land. In the peak seasons, many tourists come to witness the beautiful scenery of tea farms for     8     (they), while enjoying a cup of tea.

There are many ways you can experience tea culture in China. You can visit a tea plantation in Hangzhou or elsewhere to learn     9     tea is grown and harvested. You can sit inside a     10     (tradition) teahouse and take in the classical atmosphere as you drink tea.

The Grand Canal is the longest and oldest canal in the world. It forms a vast inland waterway system in China, running from the capital Beijing in the north     1     Zhejiang Province in the south.

    2     (construct) in sections from the 5th century BC and completed and maintained by several     3     (dynasty), it formed the backbone of China’s inland communications system, which enabled the supply of rice     4     (feed) the population. The Grand Canal reached a new peak in the 13th century, providing an inland shipping network consisting of more than 2,000 km of artificial waterways,     5     linked five of the most important river basins in China, including the Huanghe River and the Changjiang River. Still     6     major means of internal communication today, it     7     (play) an important role in ensuring the prosperity (繁荣) and stability of China over the ages.

The Grand Canal bears witness to a remarkable and early development of hydraulic engineering (水利工程). It is an essential technological achievement     8     (date) from before the Industrial Revolution. It is a perfect example of dealing with difficult     9     (nature) conditions, as is reflected in the many constructions that are     10     (full) adapted to the diversity and complexity of circumstances. It best demonstrates the technical capabilities of Eastern civilizations.

Chen Sifang, a 23-year-old student from Beijing Normal University, gives movie     1     (appreciate) classes to children in Xinghai county, Qinghai province to promote art and culture.

The class is part of a nonprofit project     2     college students volunteer during their vacations in remote areas and give art and culture classes to local children.     3     (launch) in July and lasting almost a month, the project has sent more than 100 college students to six regions.

Chen recalls that it took the volunteer lecturers six hours     4     (travel) from Xining to the county, which has     5     average altitude (海拔) of 3,900 meters. As the bus approached, they saw clear blue skies, vast grasslands and roaming (漫游) cattle,     6     (make) them feel refreshed.

After consulting with her fellow volunteers, Chen selected 30 movies     7     coaching materials for nearly 70 local students from three primary schools and two junior middle schools. A young girl said one of Zhang Yimou’s movie was her favorite because the romance between the two main characters was similar to     8     of her own parents`. “It is very interesting. I have never had this kind of class before,” says 14-year-old Yang Chengyan,     9     is eager to read more sci-fi tales now because of this class. A film could     10     (true) leave a mark on their lives.

The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Winter Solstice (冬至), the 22nd solar term of the year,    1     (fall) between the periods of December 21 to December 23 every year. It marks the arrival of the    2     (cold) season in the year.

As early as the Zhou Dynasty, people worshipped (敬奉) the gods on the first day of the Winter Solstice,    3    also was the first day of the new year. The Winter Solstice became a winter festival during the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD). The celebratory activities were    4     (official) organized. On this day, both official sand common people would have a rest.

When midwinter arrives, vital movement begins to decline and calm down. In this period, eating    5    appropriate amount of nut, such as peanuts, is good for one’s body. Traditional Chinese medical science teaches that most nuts can nourish the kidneys (肾) and    6     (strength) the brain and heart.

People in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, are accustomed to    7     (eat) wontons in midwinter. According to legend, during the midwinter feast 2, 500 years ago, the King of Wu    8     (feed) up with all kinds of costly foods and wanted to eat something different. Then, the beauty Xishi came into the kitchen to make “wontons”    9     (honor) the king’s wish. He ate a lot and liked the food very much.    10    memory of Xishi, the people of Suzhou made wontons the official food to celebrate the festival.

The Silk Road was a network of ancient trade routes,     1     joined East Asia to the Mediterranean. The most important network is the Chang’an- Tianshan Corridor,which     2     (stretch) over a distance of around 5,000 kilometres     3     covers a total of 8,700 kilometres of trade routes. The starting point of the corridor and the entire Silk Road network is Chang’an (present-day Xi’an), in Shaanxi Province of north-west China. It was famous as the capital of the Han and Tang Dynasties. The Silk Road was beginning     4     (develop) in the 2nd century BCE.     5     (assign ) by the emperor,the ambassador Zhang Qian journeyed from Chang’an to Central Asia and     6     (seek) to build bridges between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions.     7     the initial stage of the Silk Road development, silk was the main item in the trade list thanks to its light weight and high value. In addition to trade exchange, the network served as     8     bridge for cultural exchange. All of these     9     (activity) contributed to a great age of     10     (expand) as trade and cultural exchanges gave people access to new goods, knowledge and ideas.