1 . Now 2022 is here, a whole host of new museums are opening their doors for the very first time. Here are four of the most exciting museum openings of the year.

Museum of Art & Photography

Opening towards the end of the year, this brand-new gallery in southern India was founded by businessman Abhishek Poddar. He’s known for his fantastic collection of art and photography and more than 18, 000 of his own pieces will be on display here. Expect everything from textiles to sculpture and painting. Can’t make it out to Bengaluru? The museum is going to have digital exhibits on its website, so you can get your culture fix remotely.

Grand Egypt Museum

When it finally opens in November 2022, the Grand Egypt Museum will be the biggest museum in the world dedicated to a single civilization. The museum’s display will include 50, 000 artifacts, but most importantly, this will be the first time that all 5, 000 pieces of King Tutankhamun’s treasure will be displayed in the same place since its discovery. You can also enjoy the feast on https://grandegyptianmuseum.org.

Maison Gainsbourg

The Parisian townhouse where the French singer Serge Gainsbourg lived has been closed off to the public since his death in 1991. This spring, though, it’ll finally open as a museum dedicated to his life and work. The main attraction will surely be Serge’s famously odd living area, with its piano and huge collection of sculptures.

Hong Kong Palace Museum

Expected to open in July 2022, the Hong Kong Palace Museum will house nine galleries, full of rare books, traditional calligraphy and imperial treasures on loan from the Forbidden City in Beijing. It’s family-friendly, too: the complex will feature education rooms, nursery spaces and interactive experiences aimed specifically at kids. Keep an eye out for international collaborations (合作) – the first is an exhibition curated (筹办展出) with a French museum – the Louvre.

International Day of Peace

At a time when war and violence often monopolize our news cycles, the International Day of Peace is     1     inspiring reminder of what we can create together-PEACE.

In 1981, the United Nations General Assembly declared the third Tuesday of September as International Day of Peace. This day coincided with the opening day of the annual sessions of the General Assembly. The purpose of the day was and still     2    (remains), to strengthen the ideals of peace around the world.

Two decades after establishing this day of observance, in 2001, the assembly moved the date to be observed     3    (annual) on September 21. So,     4    (begin) in 2002, September 21 marks not only a time to discuss how to promote and maintain peace among all people but also a 24-hour period of     5    (globe) ceasefire and non-violence.

Peace is possible. Throughout history, most     6    (society) have lived in peace most of the time. Today, we are much less likely to die in war than our parents or grandparents. Since the     7    (establish) of the United Nations and the creation of the Charter of the United Nations, governments are obliged not to use force     8     others unless they are acting in self-defense or have been authorized by the UN Security Council to proceed.

Life is better in a world     9     peace exists and, today, we look to those who have been peacemakers and peacekeepers to learn what we can do individually     10     (make) the world a more peaceful place.

The story of coffee often begins with a shepherd     1     (name) Kaldi in 9^th century Ethiopia. While out in the fields, Kaldi saw his goats eating the berries from a small bush, then running and leaping about. Out of     2     (curious), he tried the berries and felt the invigorating effects for     3     (he). He took some of the fruits with him and shared them with the     4     (member) of a monastery nearby. And by the 1400s, coffee was being traded throughout the Arabian Peninsula.

Coffee reached Europe in the late 16^th century through trade. Coffee was introduced into Italy first. Coffee really became popular in Europe in the 17^th century, and the coffee houses opened across Europe.     5     first coffeehouse in England opened in Oxford in 1651 and by the late 17^th century there were many coffeehouses in English towns     6     merchants and professional men met to drink cups of coffee, read newspapers and chat.

In the Americas, coffee was introduced during colonization, first as an imported good, then as a cultivated crop throughout Central America. The cultivation of coffee in Americas, like other cash crops, resulted     7     the displacement of native peoples and    8     (develop) of large – scale plantations using native people as a labor source. In the 19^th century, Brazil became the world’s     9     (large) coffee producer, a title it     10     (maintain) ever since. Coffee remains a major good produced in Central and South America to this day.

The     1     (old) known coin factory in the world has been discovered in China. It produced the first metal spade(铁锹) coins more than 2,600 years ago. “The discovery helps to throw light     2     the origins of money,” said researchers. They    3    (make) the discovery during excavations(挖掘) in the town of Guanzhuang, Henan Province.

Spade coins are Chinese metal currency and     4    (possible) the first in the world. “At first, the factory mainly produced weapons, tools and so on,” said    5    researcher. “About 150 years later, the minting(铸币) activities appeared.”

Researchers hope this new site can tell people     6     money developed. Previous research has suggested that at first coins     7     (issue) by business people, making it much easier to trade, transport，and count wealth.

    8    the factory was a later addition, it proved that subsequently dedicated coin mints were built somewhere in China from the very beginning. For the next 2,000 years, money would be the main output of the copper industry. “Making coins was one of the greatest financial     9     (activity) in human history,”said researchers,    10    (add) that it allowed wealth to be traded easily.

6 . Considered one of the greatest archaeological finds of mankind in the 20th century, the Sanxingdui Ruins site in Sichuan province has continued to amaze the world. Since May, more than 500 cultural relics have been found at the site. 

Some of the bronze artifacts  (工艺品) discovered during the current excavation have never been seen before, according to experts. They were beyond “our previous understanding of bronze wares and posed great challenges to our research”, said Xu Feihong, a lecturer at Shanghai University.

A unique bronze artifact from the No 3 pit features a man carrying a bronze vessel known as a zun that has a round rim (边沿) and a square body, said Ran Honglin, a researcher with Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute.

Three bronze figures, with their palms pressed together and their heads twisted to the right, have been excavated from the No 4 pit.

These three bronze figures are a unique find among Sanxingdui items in terms of their shape and decorative pattern, and they provide further material for studying the bronze casting technology of the Shu people as well as their art, religious beliefs, social system and cultural exchanges with surrounding areas, Ran said. Shu was an ancient state in what is now Sichuan. 

Again, a gold mask is catching the world’s attention. 

It is the biggest of its kind unearthed at the site so far. It is 37.2 centimeters wide, 16.5 cm high and weighs about 100 grams. Another thing that makes it stand out is that it is complete. 

It was discovered in June at the No 3 pit. Earlier this year, a similar, but less complete gold mask was found at the No 5 pit.

Gold items were found at the Sanxingdui Ruins site as early as 1986, including gold foil (金箔) pieces that show how the precious metal was used by the ancient Shu people. The finding further illustrates the custom of the ancient Shu people to use gold items, experts said.

Radiocarbon dating (放射性碳年代测定) has shown that the No 3 and No 4 pits, at 3,000 to 3,200 years old, go back to the late Shang Dynasty (16th century-11th century BC), Xu said.

Excavation of the No 4 pit was completed on Aug 19, and digging at the No 3 pit will be completed in the next two months. What other treasures will the pit bring us? Only time will tell!