Nanjing is a city that has played an important role in Chinese history for thousands of years. Nanjing     1     (name) the capital city first in 229 AD during the Three Kingdoms period. It has been a capital city many times. It’s a place that is relatively unknown     2     foreigners yet very popular with local tourists.

When Dave and I got the chance     3     (travel) to it, we jumped at it. We hadn’t known anything about Nanjing before going, but hearing that it was a popular destination from Shanghai, we were excited to explore it. It turns out that Nanjing is one of our favourite     4     (place) to visit in China.

We first went to Nanjing Niushoushan Cultural Park. A trolley (电车) took us to the top of the mountain     5     we could view the immaculate(圣洁的) Buddhist Palace that was built into the side of the mountain.     6     (open) in 2015, it is an example that proves the traditional and the modern can co-exist.

But soon we     7     (realize) that a real treat was inside the palace when we took the escalator (自动扶梯) 6 stories underground to see the Thousand-Buddha Hall. With a height of 28 metres, the golden hall is     8     (impress).

We highly recommend     9     (take) a full day to explore the Niushoushan Cultural Park to visit all the sites on the mountains. And do remember visiting the Usnisa Palace is     10    must.

Located in the northeast, Yanji is one of the earliest     1     (area) in China to promote football. With     2     population of only 680,000, the small city has a large number of football players and fans. The average number of the audience at last year’s home games was over 16,000 per game. The figure is     3     (near) the same as the number of the audience in the Chinese Super League, and a sizable share of the audience is made up     4     visitors.

Visitors come to Yanji not only to watch the game,     5     to have a cup of coffee and see dinosaur fossils (化石)     6     (discover) in 2016. So far, Yanji’s “dinosaur tour”     7     (join) the “football tour” and “coffee tour” as a new feature. Li Jun, the owner of Chayina Cafe, has witnessed the tourism boom in Yanji, and the     8     (hot) type of coffee in his cafe can sell up to 1,200 cups every day.

Football, coffee, and dinosaurs are the focus of an     9     (increase) number of visitors to Yanji and a new window for the outside world     10     (get) to know Yanji.

“Reverse (逆向的) tourism” has emerged (显现)     1     a new trend (趋势) among young holidaymakers in China. According to data from online travel agency Qunar, as cited by Beijing Daily,     2     number of rooms booked at hotels in less-travelled cities during the holiday was up 30 percent year-on-year.

Bookings for four-and five-star hotels in less-travelled places including Linxia in Gansu province, Shizuishan in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, and Haibei in Qinghai province all increased at least 10-fold     3     (compare) with the same period of 2021.

Popular tourist spots     4     (be) always packed and often raise their prices during holidays. As people become more mature travellers, they are     5     (increasing) unwilling to follow the crowd. Some of them are simply looking     6     (take) a rest somewhere quiet for a couple of days,     7     is a good way to vacation. COVID-19 is another key factor     8     (encourage) reverse tourism.

“The rise of reverse tourism is not a bad thing,” said an opinion piece in Zhengzhou Daily. It means that     9     (vacationer) now have more options, which brings more possibilities to the tourism market, the article explains. Jiang Han, a senior researcher, said that reverse tourism will become one of the future directions for the market     10     is an opportunity for growth comparable to the camping economy.

Handan lies at the east foot of Taihang Mountains, and borders the North China Plain in the east.     1     (it) climate features four clear seasons. It is dry and     2     (wind) in spring, hot and rainy in summer. The weather is mild and cool in autumn and chilly in winter.

    3     (locate) in the south of Hebei Province, Handan is in the communication center of Hebei, Henan, Shanxi and Shandong about 200 kilometers away from     4     capital cities of these four provinces and about 450 kilometers away from Beijing and Tianjin.     5     (be) an important transportation center, Handan possesses the integrated transport means of railway, highway and aviation,     6     can serve 13 cities nearby with a population of about 70 million.

Handan is also a famous historical and cultural city. The Cishan Culture     7     (make) this area a glowing pearl in the Central Plains of China about 8,000 years ago. Handan is regarded     8     the most time-honored city in Hebei. It used to be a political, economic and cultural center of northern China.

The idiom is one of the     9     (representative) of ancient culture in Handan. Among the idioms people use in daily life, there are 1,584 of them from or related to Handan. What’s more, Handan has many scenic spots, such as The Wahuang Palace and Jingniang Lake for tourists     10     (visit). Travelers can get deep cultured in this ancient city and learn about the interesting idioms.

Nemo’s Garden is the world’s first underwater farm. Now, tomatoes, strawberries and some other plants are growing inside its round pods (舱) under the sea, just off the coast of Noli, Italy.

Ocean Reef Group     1    (start) the underwater garden project in 2012     2    (find) new ways to farm that could help the planet in the future. The group’s six plastic pods     3    (fill) with air, but their bottoms are open to the sea. Through evaporation (蒸发), fresh water collects on the insides of the pods, and then goes back down to help plants in the pods grow.

Because the pods aren’t very deep under water, the plants still get enough     4    (nature) light from the sun. There is also little need     5     pesticides as insects can’t get into harm the plants. However,     6    (train) divers are needed to swim down and take care of the plants.

Ocean Reef Group’s Luca Gamberini told     7     magazine that the plants taste different too. “They taste even     8    (strong),” he said. For now, Nemo’s Garden is     9    (most) used as a laboratory     10     tries different ways to grow different kinds of plants under the sea.

If one travels to Chengdu for the first time, Chunxi Road is a place that should not be missed. Chunxi Road     1     (build) in 1924 to connect two commercial (商业的) centers. It provides lovely food choices,     2     (attract) sightseeing, and a lot of shopping chances for visitors. It is     3     (real) an excellent place to have fun and experience the life of Chengdu locals.

Standing at the north end of Chunxi Road     4     (be) some statues. An old man     5     (dress) in traditional Chinese clothes holds a snuff (鼻烟) bottle in his hand. Not far from him, a modern young lady in fashionable clothes is walking in     6     hurry. A stone lock statue lies between them. It shows the time 00:00 on February 10,2002, the date     7     the rebuilding was finished. The old man stands for the businessmen from the past, while the lady stands for the modern young people.

Chunxi Road is a paradise (天堂) for shopping with all kinds of stores selling goods from international high-end things     8     cheap ones. Besides, the traditional Chengdu food here will make your mouth water. Famous local     9     (snack), such as Zhong Dumplings, Lai Tangyuan and Han Baozi, are delicious and cheap,     10     (get) popularity among visitors across the world.

My time here in China is going well. I love my new school     1     classmates. Over the October holiday, my parents and I are planning to go to Xi’an to see the Terracotta Army. I’ve heard that it is an    2    (amaze) sight, and I can’t wait to go. To me, the story of the Terracotta Army is almost unbelievable. It’s amazing that there are more than 8,000     3     (statue), and no one in modern times knew about     4     (they) until the1970s.

We’re also planning to visit several other places in Xi’an. My dad and I are both looking forward to    5     (go) to the Shaanxi History Museum, because my dad loves history and I have heard that this museum is known    6    a “Chinese treasure house”！We’re also going to the Xi’an City Wall and a few other famous     7     (sight).

We’re taking the train，    8    (leave)the day before the October holiday begins. We’re arriving at 9:30 a.m. and will start sightseeing right away, so I hope we sleep well on     9    train!

I guess that’s all for now! I’ll write again soon and send photos! Do you have any plans for the     10    (come) holiday? Hope to hear from you soon.

Your friend,

Richard