Dedicated to documenting the stories about Shanghai’s Pudong New Area before its opening-up and development in the 1990s, the Pudong History Museum was     1     (official) opened in February.

In 2021, the museum     2     (experience) a major renovation (整修). Aside from the permanent showcase of Pudong’s history and culture, the museum is also presenting     3     (it) first temporary showcase that features couplet (对联) written     4     a local artist.

The opening exhibition shows several objects, including a collection of jade, artifacts with inscriptions of the pattern for longevity, and objects inset with gold, all of which     5     (dig) up from the tomb of Lu Shen in Pudong in 1969. It was the Lu family that gave Shanghai’s important financial center the name—Lujiazui.

Objects     6     (donate) by people are on show, too. One donor is Feng Jianzhong,     7     is the head of the collectors’ society in Pudong. Feng donated dozens of historical     8     (document) and objects that he gathered over the past decades. “I am     9     local and have deep feelings for my hometown. I think     10     (share) my collections is more meaningful than keeping them at home,” says Feng.

CCTV Spring Festival Gala mascot (春晚吉祥物) “Tu Yuanyuan”adopts a traditional pattern of Fengxiang clay sculpture in Shaanxi Province. This is also the     1     (three) cooperation between Fengxiang clay sculpture     2     the Spring Festival Gala.

Fengxiang clay sculpture is a traditional art in the Fengxiang County of the Shaanxi Province and one of the national intangible (无形的) cultural heritages. It appeared in the Western Zhou and Qin     3     (dynasty), became popular in the Tang Dynasty and was     4    (far) developed in the Ming Dynasty. It is said that during the Ming Dynasty, soldiers from Jiangxi Province were skilled in pottery making. When they     5     (have) nothing to do in their spare time, they would make clay with the soil and make clay of     6     (vary) forms as toys and paint them for people to see. After     7     (leave) the army, they continued using the skills for a living. Local people used     8     (wish) for good health and good fortune by putting clay sculptures in their homes.

Fengxiang clay sculpture is a folk art mixing Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang cultures southern cultures and many other cultures. The production of Fengxiang clay sculpture     9     shape is beautiful and vivid has to go     10     dozens of processes, such as mould —making, painting, color installation and so on.

Kites nowadays can be seen in parks throughout the world. But     1     is believed that the first kite was invented by the Chinese more than 2,000 years ago. In the beginning, the kites     2     (use) for military (军事的) purposes and defense. Since the Qing Dynasty, kites have been used mostly for     3     (entertain) and celebrations.

For a long time, kites were used only in China and nearby countries. Businessmen     4     visited China took kites to India, Korea and other parts of Asia. Marco Polo was the first person     5     (take) Chinese kites to Europe, after one of his famous trips to China in the 13th century. He was also one of the first     6     (author) who wrote about the kites,     7     (explain) to the Western audience how to use them. They spread from Europe to North and South America as well.

During the 20th century, kite flying festivals became very popular in China. Weifang, Shandong is considered the kite capital of the world and the Weifang International Kite Festival     8     (attract) many tourists from around the world.

Weifang is also home to     9     (famous) Kite Museum in the world. In the Weifang Kite Museum, it is possible to see     10     impressive collection of kites from all periods. Professionals are able to figure out the period just by examining the materials and decorations used.

Guan Yu, an ancient general known for his loyalty and bravery in battles, has been widely worshipped (敬奉). The Temple of Guan Yu in Xiezhou, North China’s Shanxi Province, is the     1    (large) one among countless temples worshipping the general across the country and also a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level.

In 2020, a research institute     2     studied the culture behind this folk belief in Guan Yu was founded in Xiezhou, and eight graduate students were hired. This summer, researchers of     3     institute are compiling chronicles (编年史) for the temple, and studying the fine elements of traditional culture contained in the temple.

Across the country, historical and cultural heritage sites are protected and studied to discover and learn about traditional Chinese culture, amid the nation’s efforts     4    (build) a modern Chinese civilization.     5     total, there are 5,058 major historical and cultural sites protected at the national level. “    6    (witness) the long history and splendid culture of the Chinese nation in the past years, the historical and cultural sites offer     7    (we) rich ‘spiritual nutrients’ in the midst of building a modern Chinese civilization,” said Gao Jiangtao, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In Shanxi, with local protection work     8    (trouble) due to understaffing, a project was started in 2022 to enroll a total of 600 students for a span of five years,     9    (specific) for 117 localities across the province in need of protection professionals. These students will     10    (offer) general education on relics protection during college.

According to legend, Wan Hu, a Chinese astronaut, was crazy about the stars and had a rather bold (大胆的) plan to get     1     (he) closer to them. He set out to become the world’s first astronaut. Picking up on China’s then developed technology in rocketry, he took up the task of building a spaceship.

Wan Hu’s pioneering spacecraft     2     (build) around a strong chair, two kites and forty-seven of the largest gunpowder- filled rockets.     3     the launch day, Wan Hu strapped (用绳子系) himself in the chair and called upon his forty-seven servants, each armed with a flaming torch,     4     ( light) the forty-seven fuses (导火线).

Their job done, the servants speedily ran to a safe     5     (distant) and waited nervously.     6     came next was a loud noise. When the smoke eventually cleared, Wan Hu, the Chinese astronaut, and his chair were nowhere to be seen. Whether Wan Hu     7     (actual) made it or not has never been made clear.

Despite (尽管) the fact     8     the story is considered untrue by some people today, Wan Hu found his place in Chinese popular culture.

At the beginning of the 21st century, China finally launched a man into space and turned Wan Hu’s centuries-old dream into     9     (real). In 2003, Yang Liwei was launched aboard Shenzhou 5,     10     (become) the first person sent into space by the Chinese space program.