More young people are trying their hand at farming the soil. Guo Lan, 29, works in a vegetable greenhouse on his organic farm     1     (locate) in the suburban district of Hefei, East China’s Anhui province. It is the eighth time this summer that Guo has failed to grow vegetables     2    using chemicals. Despite trying various homemade pest solutions, such as plant ash and mixtures of pepper and alcohol, the vegetable     3     (leaf) were still being eaten by insects. “I will not give up     4     (try),” the 29-year-old accountant-turned-farmer says. He is determined to turn his farm into     5     organic one, cultivating fruits and vegetables with the same flavors as those from his childhood memories.

“Growing tasty and healthy food     6     (be) my dream since I was a teenager. I know     7     challenging it can be, but if you take the soil     8     (serious), I believe it will pay off,” Guo says. He adds that farming is not a business that can make quick money, but for him, it has become an uplifting activity that brings back memories of spending time on the farm with     9     (he) parents as a child. Guo’s passion for organic farming and commitment to producing healthy food will surely inspire more young people to explore     10     (sustain) agriculture.

With over 1.5 million fans on Chinese social media platforms, Rachel labels herself as a German-American vlogger (视频博主) who speaks Chinese.     1    many may not know is that she spent her childhood in Guangdong and     2     (call) China her home since the age of six.

Rachel’s journey as a     3     (create) of digital content began during her time at Xiamen University, when she started sharing videos about her everyday life and hot topics in China.     4     (film) in fluent Mandarin, occasionally with a Cantonese accent, her videos quickly captured the interest of many viewers.

Rachel’s exceptional command of the Chinese language has opened doors     5     exciting job opportunities. In 2022, she became the first regular female guest on a cultural interview program in China     6    features foreigners as the main guests.

Her popularity     7     (boost) further in 2023, thanks to My Guangdong Story,     8     six-episode documentary series that explored the lives of foreigners in Guangdong.

“I am actually a Cantonese, and Guangdong is my home,” Rachel shares     9     (warm).

With her passion, language skills, and genuine love for China, Rachel continues to inspire her vast online community,     10     (bridge) cultures and building connections across borders

Longmen Grottoes

Set on the banks of the Yi River, 12km south of the current Luoyang City, the Longmen Grottoes are ranked first of the Four Great Grotioes in China, together with Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Yungang Grottoes in Datong and Mount Maiji Grottoes in Tianshui. They were also listed in the World Cultural Heritages and Relics by UNESCO in 2000.

    1     (Locate) between the Xiangshan Mountain and the Longmen Mountain, with the YiRiver flowing below, the Longmen Grottoes are     2     (harmony) with mountains, forests and rivers displaying a peaceful atmosphere. Viewing it at a distance, it looks like     3     natural gate, which gave it the name “Yi Que (the gate of the Yi River)”. According to legend,     4     Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty climbed on Mount Mang north of Luoyang, he was very pleased and ordered the eastern capital     5     (build) here with its palace gate opposite the Yique. Thus, it came to be named, Longmen Gate.

Longmen Gate also houses     6     (rough) 2860 stele inscriptions (碑刻), making     7     a treasure for ancient calligraphy study. In total, more than 100,000 Buddhist statues and niches     8     (carve) into the cliffs by ancient Chinese people ranging from the largest one, the Vairocana Buddha with a     9     (high) of 17.14 meters,     10     the smallest one of 2 centimeters.

Wandering in the Longmen Grottoes, one is amazed by the delicate carving skills, deep Buddhist culture and great art achievements of Chinese people.

Oil paintings, prints, porcelain paintings, watercolor... Art has many different forms. For Lian Yang,     1     real name is Wu Yang, a young painter from Sichuan province, her expression of oriental beauty stands out as unique. She     2    （devote） herself to bringing mineral pigment painting（岩彩画）back to the attention of young people in China since 2018, five years after graduation from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing.

Mineral pigment painting dates back     3     over thousands of years ago, originating as the Qiuci murals（龟兹壁画） in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and the Dunhuang murals in Gansu province.     4    （inspire） by this, Lian Yang created many     5    （artwork） about Bodhisattva, Buddhist scripture and Chinese culture, with lively and unique strokes. Her works gained     6    （popular）quickly, being collected by institutions and individuals globally.

To inject new vitality into traditional art, Yang also     7    （deliberate） made the females look more like modern youngsters.     8    （wear） hanfu, they display both the unique look of ancient murals as well as modern aesthetics.

The video of Lian Yang’s painting process went viral on     9     Internet, gaining over 24 million views. “A young person learning art is free from any constraints. They want to create things they like. This way, art comes from life and out of a box,” said Lian Yang. “We want to encourage more people     10    （create） and collect mineral pigment paintings.”

Whether tiny and used for delicate needle work     1     large and employed to make clothing, as well as for other purposes , traditional Chinese scissors are distinctive.

Scissors were once handmade by a Chinese man who also made metal     2    (knife) in his shop. Today’s scissors, often made of steel rather than iron, are produced in larger workshops     3    (employ) a combination of traditional and modern methods. These workshops produce a range of all-purpose scissors capable     4     cutting anything from sheet metal to fine silk.

No scissor producer in China is more famous than the Zhang Xiaoquan Scissors Factory,     5    (found) in 1663 in Hangzhou,     6     currently produces about 45 million pairs of 120 different styles each year.     7    (original), production required 72 steps, but this has been reduced to 24. One unique feature of the Zhang Xiaoquan brand is that beautiful landscapes and images of birds, flowers, and animals are still hand-carved along the surface of each pair. The     8    (company) scissors won various international honors, besides having been designated(指定) as “Imperial Palace Scissors” by the Qing emperor’s court. Up to now, identified as deserving protection along with     9    (diversity) centuries-old craft products, Zhang Xiaoquan     10    (recognize) as a laozihao or “heritage brand”.