One of the     1     (old) traditional opera forms still     2     (perform) in China, Kunqu Opera was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. It     3     (list) as one of the masterpieces of the oral and intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产) by UNESCO in 2001.

Combining songs, graceful body movements, martial arts and dance, Kunqu uses a seemingly endless     4     (various) of gestures to express emotions. Like many traditional Chinese art forms, Kunqu has been faced     5     competition from mass culture and a lack of interest among young people. But the recognition by UNESCO made it possible for Kunqu Opera     6     (experience) a revival. Some artists noted that Kunqu Opera pieces are     7     (close) linked with Chinese literature and the best-known one is The Peony Ravilion (牡丹亭),     8     was written by Ming Dynasty playwright Tang Xianzu.

When     9     “youth version” (青春版) of The Peony Pavilion was put on at universities across China, it gained great popularity among young people. One of the actresses received a note from an audience member after the show,     10     (tell) her how beautiful she was onstage and how beautiful Kunqu was.

French disaster epic Notre-Dame on Fire hits Chinese big screen

This April marks the     1     (four) anniversary of Notre-Dame in Paris being engulfed by the biggest blaze in its history.

NotreDame on Fire, now in Chinese cinemas, is a disaster epic     2     veteran French filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud, who also helmed Wolf Totem(2015), a drama film     3     (adapt) from Chinese writer Jiang Rong’s eponymous novel. The film made its China premiere on April 6 in Beijing in the presence of France’s Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak and the director.

Presenting a blow-by-blow recreation of the gripping events that     4     (happen) on April 15, 2019 when the fire at the French medieval catholic cathedral rocked France and shocked the whole world, Annaud’s new film hails the heroic people who put their lives on     5     line to accomplish the awe-inspiring rescue. Annaud unveiled the filming details of the film to the audience     6     (attend) the China premiere.

“It was a     7     (danger) movie. The actors were actually very close to the extremely violent fire, 1,200-degree Fahrenheit fire. There are very few digital special effects. Almost all of what you have seen are     8     (identical) reconstructed sets that I set on fire,” he said.

“When I saw this movie in Paris last year, it took me a few hours     9     I could breathe and walk normally on the street,” said Malak at the film’s China premiere.

The French minister announced that 2024 will be the France-China Year of Culture and Tourism and she invited Chinese tourists to travel to France for the occasion, especially to see the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris,     10     , after almost six years of extensive renovations, is scheduled to reopen to the public in December of the same year.