The legend goes that there was a Battle of the Gods. Yang Jian (杨戬) became a god because he fought hard during the battle.

But 1,500 years later, things are different. The Heavenly Court (天庭) goes downhill. Yang has to make a living as a bounty hunter (赏银捕手). One day, Yang gets a bounty to catch a young man but finds out the young man is his nephew, Liu Chenxiang. Liu wants to save his mother by splitting a mountain. But this will cause chaos. What will Yang do? Will he help Liu?

This is the story told in the animation movie, Xin Shen Bang: Yang Jian. It came out in Chinese mainland theaters on Aug 19.

Besides the exciting story, people also like the movie’s visuals very much. The movie uses an ink-wash painting style in some parts. In others, it shows Heaven as a sci-fi style city with high buildings and spaceships.

“The movie really creates an amazing world,” wrote the Mtime website.

Hot pot is very popular no matter in hot summer or cold winter in China. It has a history over 1,000 years and until now, it is still the most popular dish for social or family gathering. People put a metal pot in the middle of a dining table, and while the water in the pot is boiling (沸腾) , ingredients are put into it and cooked in the pot. They are usually thinly sliced beef, pork, chicken, lamb, leaf vegetables, tofu and seafood. Many Chinese people like eating hot pot. Liu Yang is one of them.

Liu Yang went to university in England. Three days ago, he arrived there. He had three days of hamburgers, sandwiches and potatoes. Yesterday he was very excited when he heard that there was going to be a meal of hotpot to welcome the new students.

He went into the room and sat next to an American girl. To his surprise, he saw potatoes and bread in front of him. Where was the hot pot?

When the American girl found that Liu Yang was very surprised, she made an introduction to him that hotpot is not hot pot. China has hot pot in two words but English hotpot is written in one word. Hotpot is made with meat, potatoes and onions. People put them into the oven all day in a heavy pot and over a low heat. It is easy to cook.

Hotpot tastes fine. But Liu Yang still misses hot pot, two words!

The Silk Road is the name of different roads that long ago connected Europe, Africa and Asia People reached these different places along these roads. Scientists believe people began to travel the Silk Road about 3000 years ago. When the Chinese silk trade became important in the world, the Silk Road covered almost 6500 kilometers. It spread from Rome to China, that is to say from the West to the Far East.

Traders traveling along the Silk Road carried silk, of course. They also carried and traded spices, cloth, valuable stones and gold.

There is a famous old story along the old road. It is said that Roman soldiers who lost a war traveled through central Asia. They decided to live somewhere near the ancient Chinese village of Liqian. Some of these Romans married local Chinese women and the story of blue-eyed villages of China was thus started.

During its busiest period, the Silk Road allowed people from many different cultures and countries to meet each other and mix. The Silk Road allowed sharing valuable goods and new ideas. These included people and trading goods from the Mediterranean, Persian, Magyar, Armenian, Bactrian, Indian and Chinese areas. All these peoples traveled along the Silk Road, and they shared goods, stories, languages, and cultures.

In modern times, the old Silk Road routes are still used, but now they are crossed by trains instead of camels and horses. There is even a Silk Route Museum in Jiuquan in China. It has over 35,000 objects from all along the Silk Road. In this way, China protects the history of many countries and peoples.