Every Saturday, Wang Weifang puts on a play with his friends in a small town near Xi’an. The audience can hear them, but they cannot see them. That is (A) they are putting on a shadow puppet play.

(B) 皮影由硬质皮革制成。The leather is cut out in the shape of a person, an animal or an object. Each puppet is painted (C) bright colours and put on a stick. Some puppets have movable arms and legs.

During a shadow puppet play, Wang stands behind a white screen with lights behind it. The audience sit (D) in front of the screen. Wang and his friends hold the puppets very close to the screen so the audience can see the puppets’ shadows clearly.   (E) Then they move the puppets around and do the voices of the different characters.

Shadow puppet plays are an ancient Chinese art. Now with TV and films, shadow puppet plays are not as popular as before.

Wang and his friends often work very hard for little money, but they do not (F) mind. They want to keep this traditional art form alive.

The FIFA World Cup came to an end in December 2022. But the love for soccer is still very much alive and well in Zibo, Shandong Province.

Zibo is called “the home of soccer ball”. It’s the birthplace of the ancient Chinese sport—cuju. In 2004, cuju won the recognition(认可) of FIFA -soccer’s governing body—as the earliest form of soccer.

“Side-flicking” “chest down” and “shoulder stopper” are some of the key moves of cuju. Li Weipeng, 34, from Linzi district of Zibo city is a seventh-generation inheritor (传承人) of cuju. He has been practicing these skills for 18 years. Learning different cuju skills well is not easy. “At the beginning, I spent eight hours a day practising juggling (颠) a ball. It was tiring,” Li told China Daily. He now can juggle a ball with his foot over 10,000 times in a row.

Teaching students cuju moves is a part of Li’s job. The traditional Chinese sport cuju is now popular at primary and middle schools in Linzi. Its moves have made their way into dances and morning exercises.

“Students show great interest in playing cuju. It encourages me to spread the ancient sport,” Li told China Daily.

China is a big country with many kinds of famous Kungfu, which is also called martial arts (武术). The Red Quan is just one of them.

The Red Quan is a kind of fist (拳). It mixes traditional Chinese culture with martial arts. It has a very long history and it can date back to the Qin dynasties. The Red Quan’s skills can show people the agility, flexibility (灵活、敏捷), clear thinking, and powerful attack and defense (攻击和防御) movements.

There are seven kinds of Red Quan, and each of them is special in its own way. People need to learn the positions, moves, routines and basic knowledge. Among them, positions are the basic and the root of the Red Quan. It can help you exercise your tendons, hips and waist (肌腱、臀部和腰), and then the whole body. Some moves can help you exercise your legs and feet. The Red Quan has many skillful moves. It requires people to keep the whole body flexible and quick. If people want to learn Chinese kung fu well, they’d better learn one skill well instead of learning too many skills at a time. The key to learning the Red Quan well is to keep the body flexible and agile.

Now many students are interested in learning the Red Quan. It is a good chance to learn the spirit of Chinese kung fu by learning the Red Quan.