The Shenzhou XVI crew members shared their space stories with the public on Friday since their return from space last October after the     1    (five) crewed mission to the space station     2    (involve) China’s first civilian astronaut.

“I felt particularly happy to fly with the diverse crew members, which     3     the first time included a pilot, an engineer, and a payload specialist,” Major General Jing Haipeng, 57, said at     4     news conference held in Beijing.

Jing also revealed that, unlike his previous space missions, he actually gained weight by the end of this one. “We strictly followed our exercise and dietary plans, which is     5     our physical and mental conditions were     6    (exception) good.”

Flight engineer Zhu Yangzhu said that his primary     7    (responsible) were assembling and maintaining the space station’s equipment and the greatest challenge was to ensure “zero mistakes in daily operations” during the five-month mission.

Professor Gui Haichao, said he was so proud, as the first civilian astronaut     8    (enter) China’s own space station and conduct     9    (science) research in space.

Jing also expressed his long-lasting passion for his career. “Since 2003, Chinese astronauts     10    (advance) steadily, step by step, and will explore with greater courage and wisdom to realize even bigger dreams,” he said.

Looking for the best vegetarian vacations in China? We’ve arranged China tours for vegetarians with acceptable cuisine. Eating out while traveling     1     a vegetarian won’t be tricky; instead, you can enjoy inspiring destinations and various cultures.

Previously most Chinese vegetarians were Buddhists & Taoists; but now more and more Chinese people focus more on     2     (they) health. By 2018, there had been more than 50 million veggies in China,     3     the number is still   increasing. The vast land of China     4     (offer) many fresh vegetables,   seasonal fruits,   noodles, rice, tofu and yummy dishes     5     are all fine for vegetarians.

On our     6     (guide) vegetarian food tours of China, you don’t need to worry about anything. There are many solutions if you’d like to focus on a meat-free trip. We select clean and     7     (high) rated vegetarian restaurants at every destination. Furthermore, your local guide will take you to discover and sample     8     wide range of unique vegan snacks and street foods at the traditional wet market and back streets,     9     (make) your vegetarian travel to China full of delights.

The other wonderful thing about vegan vacations in China, of course, is that immersive cultural     10     (explore) and real life adventure are always on the menu.

Baiyang Lake, also known as Lake Baiyangdian, is located in the Xiong’an New Area of Baoding. As the largest freshwater lake in North China, it has gained     1     (recognize) as the “Pearl of North China” due to its breathtaking scenery and unique ecological functions. It is referred to     2     the Kidney of North China.

The old Chinese movie “Zhang Ga, the Soldier Boy” is famous for the lake     3     Zhang Ga lived. With the beautiful lotus, flourishing reeds and plenty of fish. Lake Baiyangdian is     4     (precise) like that lake.

    5     (serve) as a crucial waterway, Baiyangdian Lake occupies an import ant location in the ancient basin of the North China Plain. Throughout the Northern Song Dynasty, the imperial court continually     6     (expand) the marshlands, resulting in the formation of a winding “Water Great Wall.” Over time, Baiyangdian Lake     7     (remain) steadfast (不变的) in fulfilling crucial ecological roles from storing floodwater to regulating the climate.

However, the lake almost dried out because of climate change from 1983 to 1988. Local governments launched 26 rehabilitation projects in 2005     8     (restore) and improve Lake Baiyangdian’s ecological environment. Now, the beauty of Lake Baiyangdian resembles the one     9     (describe) in “Zhang Ga, the Soldier Boy”, attracting visitors who hope to take     10     glance at the vivid lotus, flourishing reeds and the clear lake water.

It took six hours for Liu Yi to get to Tianshui, Northwest China’s Gansu province by train. He     1     (spend) another two hours waiting in a queue and finally got his hands on a bowl of local malatang — a mix of foods     2     (boil) in hot, spicy broth. While choosing the     3     (ingredient) he wanted, Liu picked wide, thin rice noodles and a lot of chillis, along     4     the usual vegetables and meat. Spicy food is a must for Liu, a native of Southwest China’s Sichuan province. “The malatang did not disappoint me. It has a kind of rich     5     (fragrant),” Liu said, after wiping his bowl clean.

The popularity of the dish is     6     (sudden) increasing. Thousands of diners like Liu have been making their way to the little-known northwestern city     7     (try) malatang, overwhelming local restaurant owners and contributing to local wealth. Since early March, videos and photos of Tianshui malatang     8     (go) viral on social media platforms. It all started when a netizen released a seven-second video on Feb 13 that gained millions of views. More vloggers followed suit, and then the tourists began to arrive in groups.

Within a month, bookings for hotel rooms in Tianshui had increased year-on-year, according to Ctrip,     9     online travel platform. Qinzhou district,     10     most malatang restaurants and attractions are located, received more than 770,000 tourists, local authorities said.

Scientists have discovered the remains of     1     appears to be an ancient sheep-drawn chariot (战车) near the famous Terracotta Army in the western tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The main structure of the chariot has likely rotted (腐烂) away after     2     (spend) more than 2,000 years in the ground but researchers did find a row of six sheep skeletons (骨架) wearing attachments used for pulling a chariot, so they     3     (infer) this was a sheep-drawn chariot.

Horse-drawn chariots were common in ancient China, but a sheep-drawn chariot is     4     extremely rare find. The founder of the Western Jin Dynasty, Emperor Wu, or Sima Yan, who ruled from 266 to 290CE, is said     5     (ride) in a sheep-drawn carriage around his palace complex every night and would sleep wherever the sheep stopped. Researchers hope laboratory     6     (analyze) on the western tomb’s burial chamber, which is currently underway, will help them determine who was buried there.

In addition to the six-sheep chariot, scientists unearthed a four-wheeled     7     (wood) chariot, probably drawn by horses,     8     (equip) with a fancy umbrella. It is the oldest of     9     (it) type ever found. They also found a wealth of iron tools and weapons, providing new insight     10     the period when iron tools first began to appear.

The secret of Miyazaki

On the desk of Hayao Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli is a     1    (various) of coloured pencils and watercolors, an eraser and a stopwatch. It’s the equipment of this Japanese godfather of animation. Those age-old tools underline the craft of Miyazaki’s films,     2     remain hand-drawn work in an age of high technology.

His latest film The Boy and the Heron (苍鹭),     3    (release) in 2023 in Japan, is no nostalgia (怀旧) trip for fans, however. The appeal of its craft has already been borne out at the box office and with awards nominations.

For The Boy and the Heron, it’s a perfect combination of the completely fantastical and the     4    (deep) personal. The plot begins as a boy survives the death of his mother in the firebombing of Tokyo, and     5    (join) his father and new stepmother in the countryside. But from that point, a talking heron introduces the boy to a parallel world bustling with     6    (creature) and mysteries, accessed through an     7    (abandon) tower. The rural flight echoes Miyazaki’s own experience as a three-year-old when his family escaped first to Utsunomiya and then to Kanuma.

The film’s director of animation, Takeshi Honda, explains that this world     8    (mean) to transport the viewers entirely through the looking glass-dreamy and irrational     9    not necessarily soothing.

“We were aiming for an Alice in Wonderland kind of feeling,” he says. “It gives you a sense of suspense in that you don’t really know     10     is going to happen from that point on.”

When it comes to ancient Chinese detectives, the name Di Renjie, a famous judge and administrator of the Tang Dynasty (618—907), often     1     (spring) to mind. For centuries, Di has been portrayed as a heroic investigator in popular novels and stories throughout ancient China, who was     2     (high) logical and dialectical (辩证的), and much adored by his contemporaries. Today, this tradition lives on in Chinese entertainment, with numerous TV and film adaptations of Di’s detective stories.

The new TV series “Judge Dee’s Mystery” records the life of Judge Dee. While solving various criminal cases in different places     3     he serves during the early stages of his career, Dee also uncovers the mystery     4     (surround) his own birth.

    5     traditional Chinese detective fiction, which often combines supernatural elements, the new series emphasizes logic, reason, and realism. Facing a tangled web of cases, Judge Dee and his assistants employ reasoning skills to crack mysteries. “    6     (compare) to other adaptations of Di Renjie’s stories, our drama stands out for its     7     (diverse) and inclusiveness,” said Li Yunliang, the director of the series.

However, the series never intends     8     (pursue) a faithful recreation of the Tang Dynasty     9     offers a modern interpretation of the classical stories that still strike a chord with contemporary audiences.

Li believes that every audience can gain     10     unique insight into Judge Dee’s character and the cultural roots of Chinese civilization. “Judge Dee shows traditional Chinese virtues that deserve to be admired by the Chinese people.” he adds.

Large components of traditional Chinese wooden architecture,     1    (include)columns, beams and purlins are often pieced together using sunmao structures. The sun(tenon joint)and the mao(mortise), when interlocked, both support and contain the adjoining parts. This augments stability, and also adds flexibility     2     the architecture. Craftsmen can make and process the     3    (component)in advance and assemble them quickly on site,     4     is simple and efficient. Stability is the most important characteristic of sunmao. Sunmao is the “joint” of a building that absorbs some of the seismic wave by deforming     5    (it), markedly raising earthquake resistance of the entire structure.     6    (similar), sunmao plays its “stabilizer” role to the maximum in furniture. The seat part of a chair     7    (support)by its four legs as well as the cheng under its surface, a smaller supportive upper stick that transforms part of the weight to the downer legs. In this way, the seat could sit in higher weight     8     the entire chair can work longer. Even though every component of the sunmao structure is thin, they can take massive weight by supporting each other. Sunmao is     9     extremely skillful, delicate, and sophisticated invention. This connection method of components     10    (make)ancient Chinese wooden architecture a special flexible structure that surpasses contemporary architectural bents, frames or steel frames.

Last year, Chinese from far-off cities flocked to Rongjiang County to watch an amateur village football super league, the VSL, or, CunChao. There was an audience of 50,000 once     1     (attract) to just one game, with millions more watching on Weibo and Douyin.

Football in Rongjiang County has a time-honored history,     2     (date) back to the 1940s. Back then, villagers made appointments to“play football together,”which could happen on any surface — whether it was on a grassland     3     on a concrete courtyard. At present, Rongjiang County has 14 standard football fields, all of     4     open for free. Every village has     5     (it) own team or even teams, with over 1000 players registered in the county. Let’s “play football together,”— a line villagers have     6     (repeat) said for over eight decades, has taken on an evolving implication with time.

The league’s cultural     7     (diverse) is another draw. During breaks in the matches, performances like the grand song of the Dong ethnic group, and the Lusheng dance of the Miao ethnic group were on show just on the pitch with their traditional ethnic costumes     8    .

People’s hopes for the     9     (harmony) countryside as well as the vigor of rural life     10    (bring) out to the fullest on this CunChao game.

Sugar painting, one symbol of traditional Chinese art, uses hot liquid sugar to create objects on a marble (大理石) or metal surface. As     1     unique art form in China, it is said to go back around 600 years ago to the Ming Dynasty. Over time, its charm is gaining more     2     (recognize) and attention.

    3     is so breathtaking about sugar painting is its production process. With hot sugar poured from a small in spoon onto a flat surface, the outline of the figure     4     (draw) with a thick stream of sugar. Then     5     (relative) thinner sugar is added to support the outline and fill in the figure of the body in     6     (combine) patterns, supported by a wooden stick. The painter has to work quickly,     7     (make) sure he gets every shape just right before the sugar cools down.

Today the chance to appreciate this classic art form is much     8     (small) than it once was, but it still has the power to amaze     9     (tourist) who come across talented street artists who make these amazing creations. Hopefully, sugar painting, whether it serves as a delicacy     10     an artistic treasure, will continue to last for generations.