An ancient Chinese legend states that there is only one true path up Mount Hua — the 12 km track rising 1,800 m that took 3,000 years     1     (build). I still remember     2     (amaze) by photos of people standing on the Changkong Plank Trail (长空栈道), a wooden path only over 30 centimetres in     3     (wide), with part of their bodies hanging over the cliff. Years later, I found myself     4     (enthusiastic) pursuing the same ambition.

This is where I began—a trail initially pleasant and easy. While many chose to take the cable car     5     (mean) to minimize effort, I avoided the shortcut to the South Peak. I followed the river past some Taoist temples and climbed higher up steep stairs that     6     (carve) expertly into the stone. It took hours     7     I reached higher altitude where view expanded.     8     all directions, equally impressive summits stretched out before me.

Vertical (垂直的) ladders made higher points accessible, often with only chains to arrest your fall. By afternoon, I had reached the very spot     9     had captured my imagination about China. I just stood still, mouth open, leaning right out over the edge,     10     stared down into the vacant space below. Eventually, gathering my courage, I took a few photos. Who would have thought this girl would complete the world’s most dangerous hike?!

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.

For many of us in the UK and other parts of the world, having an electric kettle plugged in in the kitchen is a part of everyday life. But for people in America, it’s unusual     1     (use) a kettle–and the cultural difference has left many people     2     (confuse). Sophie Monk,     3     Australian host, recently sparked a debate when she     4     (detail) her experience of living in the US.

Sophie lived in America for 10 years before     5     (return) to her native Australia, and she was shocked at the fact that American people boiled their water on the stove. She said, “I was looking     6     a kettle, and they’re like, ‘Kettle?’ They don’t know     7     a kettle is. They don’t use them. They must heat water up on their stove. Yeah, no one has a kettle,     8     is crazy.” Although the concept of not using a kettle is more than a little strange to us Brits, there’s actually a pretty simple     9     (explain) for the decision.

In America, homes only have a voltage (电压) of 100-127,     10     in the UK and other countries, the voltage in a house is around 230. This means electric kettles in the US actually heat water more slowly than they do in the UK, so Americans haven’t bothered to invest in the appliances-choosing instead to boil on the stove.

The Ocean of Stars, a symphony (交响乐) concert by Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, was staged at the Jinji Lake Concert Hall in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, on July 15, 2023.     1     part of the ongoing Hua Xia Music Festival hosted by Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, the concert     2     (conduct) by Chen Xieyang, featuring famous pianist Wu Chun. Chinese music     3     (work), including The Ocean of Stars and Mulan Psalm, all by Chinese composer Guan Xia, were performed.

The orchestra teamed up with Suzhou Silk Museum, presenting a modern show, which saw musicians of the orchestra wearing and showing     4     (tradition) Chinese silk clothes at the Jinji Lake Concert Hall. Started by conductor Chen, artistic director of the orchestra, the two-week Hua Xia Music Festival,     5     was in the third year, aimed at     6     (promote) Chinese music works.

Suzhou Symphony Orchestra also announced     7     (it) 2023-2024 season on July 15, which would close in July 2024. It was the orchestra’s     8     (eight) season, which gathered music artists with     9     average age of 30 years old from around the world.

The year 2023 marked the 65th anniversary of foreign relations between China and Algeria. It was the first time the orchestra     10     (perform) in Africa at the 13th International Classical Music Festival in Algiers, Algeria.

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.

The Yinxu Museum opens in Anyang, Henan province, to display the brilliance of the 3,000-year-old Shang civilization.

Nearly 4,000 unearthed cultural relics are displayed in the museum. More than three quarters of these have never been     1     (public) exhibited before. The 23 vehicles unearthed from Yinxu are the     2     (highlight) in the new galleries. Also on display     3     (be) Shang relics collected from across the rest of present-day China.

The Yinxu Ruins,     4     (list) as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006, hosted a later period Shang capital city. The site also produced rich findings of 3,300-year-old bones,     5     (reveal) the oldest-known established writing system of Chinese characters,     6     are extraordinary and serve as a vital link in the development of the Chinese nation.

Many key breakthroughs     7     (make) in recent years at the Yinxu site and its surrounding areas. For example,     8     urban road system and the remains of an artificial lake in the royal temple area were found.

These discoveries further displayed a grand picture of a capital city     9     carried forward the project of tracking the origins of the Chinese civilization. Through the exhibits, the public can comprehensively understand the achievements made by the Shang Dynasty in terms     10     politics, economy, agriculture, military affairs, among others.

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.

The centuries-old traditional Chinese medicine scraping (刮) massage, gua sha, has become a fashion among young people on the mainland! who show off the bruises (淤青) it creates.

    1     the youth lifestyle social media platform, a young woman using the account name @hua posted pictures of herself wearing a T-shirt, in which she showed her bruises and described them as “cool”. She is one of many who regard gua sha as an efficient way to ease muscle pains and    2     (tired).

Many shared     3     (they) gua sha experiences and tips, such as using homemade scraping tools and different meridians (经脉) on the body to relax.

The meridians     4     (translate) from jing mai in Chinese, refer to paths through which the life energy     5     (flow) in the body and to organs.

The practice, also known as scraping and coining, is     6     exceptional form of traditional Chinese massage (按摩) that uses a small and flat tool to scrape the surface of skin along the meridians,     7     (leave) red bruising as a sign of released toxins.

The folk-treatment     8     originated in ancient China has enjoyed huge popularity among the older generation. The treatment is used for     9     (condition) considered not serious enough to go to hospital, according to an article in the magazine Sanlian Life Lab.

Some describe gua sha as “the Chinese way to cure the stress from the workplace” saying the pain and stress that     10     (bring) by a session bear more pleasure than parties or a weekend at the seaside.

The Guangdong Lion Dance, a national tradition popular in Foshan and Guangzhou, is a typical Southern Lion Dance.

Lion dancing    1     (date) back thousands of years, to the Tang Dynasty, and a legend about the emperor having a dream    2    a lion saved his life. And later it    3     (introduce) to the south by migrants from the north. The Guangdong Lion Dance developed into    4     (it) modern form during the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644). In Chinese tradition, people regard the lion as    5    symbol of braveness and strength, which can drive away evil and protect humans and livestock. Lion dancing    6     (main) focuses on the performance of the lion dance, attaching much attention to movements    7    scratching an itch (抓痒), shaking the mane (鬃毛) and licking (舔) the hair.

The Guangdong Lion Dance, a    8     (combine) of martial arts, dance and music, is popular not only in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, but also among overseas Chinese in Southeast Asian countries,    9     (make) it a cultural bridge for overseas Chinese keeping in touch with their national roots. It is considered to be a tradition with far-reaching cultural value. Lunar New Year is the perfect time    10     (share) and celebrate that culture and heritage.

Harbin is the capital of Heilongjiang province. Harbin is now a large and open city,     1     (influence) deeply by Russia, Europe, and Japan in     2     (it) culture, architecture, and lifestyle. Harbin is one of the most popular destinations for winter tours,    3    (host) the world’s biggest ice and snow festival.

Harbin     4     (become) world-famous for having the largest ice and snow festival. The opening ceremony is held     5     January 5 every year. Lasting for more than two months, Harbin Ice and Snow international festival is also     6     longest snow festival in the world.     7     (near) all the ice for the festival is cut from the Songhua River in Harbin.

The most popular place is the Harbin Ice and Snow World,     8     is like a frozen Disneyland, and you can see the big ice and snow castles, carto on sculptures and enjoy the biggest     9     (vary) of snow sports and activities in the world.

There are also ice and snow sculptures exhibitions on Sun Island and an ice lantern show in Zhaolin Park.

Harbin has long been a popular winter destination for snow tourism and skiing experiences. If you are skiing lovers, Yabuli Ski Resort and Jihua Ski Resort     10     (recommend).