The brush pen, one of the "Four Treasures of the Study", was invented thousands of years ago. However, the oldest pen was just a stick or a piece of bamboo. It was difficult for people to write well on thin silk.

It is said that Meng Tian, a general of the Kingdom (王国) Qin, improved the pen. When Meng was leading an army to fight against the Kingdom of Chu, he had to report the situation to his king in time. But his pen was too hard and caused him much trouble, so he was thinking of ways to improve it.

One day after hunting (狩猎), Meng made his way home with some wild rabbits on the horse back. Fat and heavy, one rabbit's tail left a long trail (痕迹) on the ground when they moved on. Suddenly a good idea came to his mind when he saw it, "If I tie the rabbit's hair to a stick, would it be easy to write with?"

On arriving home, he tied the rabbit's hair to a stick and tried writing with it. But the rabbit's hair was too smooth to write well and wasted a lot of silk. Meng was so disappointed that he threw away his "invention" into a stone hole in the yard.

However, Meng never gave up and kept trying all the time. A few rainy days later, he happened to find his "invention" fatter in a stone hole. He picked it up with hope. The brush worked beautifully on silk. It turned out that the special water had cleaned the oil from the hair. Meng succeeded at last.

Thanks to Meng, the brush pen is playing a key role in Chinese culture. Today, students are taught to use the brush pens in school. It makes their life more colorful and helps them better understand Chinese culture.

When Xiong Chuanfa, 34, blows a lifelike tiger out of sugar in just minutes, kids look at him in surprise thinking he is a magician.

Xiong has been blowing sugar figurines(吹糖人) for over twenty years. Blowing sugar figurines is a Chinese traditional folk(民间) art with a history of over 600 years and has been listed as a state-level intangible cultural heritage.

Every morning. Xiong prepares the sugar and drives to different markets in Nanchang to start his magic show.

He heats(加热) the sugar, pulls off a little to make a ball and blows it into different shapes —a rabbit, a monkey, and even Bing Dwen Dwen, the mascot of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

People, especially little kids, are interested in his skills.      ▲      he also stops by colleges.

Many college students have been drawn to the art, waiting in line for hands-on experience. Among them, Simon, a foreign student, couldn't help having a try. Though it looked easy, he found it difficult to make it. Thanks to Xiong's help, Simon finally saw a horse slowly taking shape.

Simon was deeply moved after learning about the art. "I just can't believe the traditional folk art can be kept so well here. I love it. Chinese culture should be spread around the world," he said.

This art has been passed down for four generations(代) in Xiong's family. His 6-year-old son often blows sugar balloons, just like what he used to do as a child.

"We will pass on the intangible heritage," said Xiong.

Online classes in space got lots of attention among Chinese students. The "classroom" in space station is about 400 kilometers away from the earth. The space classes make the young be proud of our country. As a special "teacher", Wang Yaping is regarded as "the most beautiful astronaut".

Wang Yaping was born in a small village in Shandong in 1980. She studied hard all those years. She was good at all subjects, especially sports. Luckily, in 1997, she was accepted by the Air Force, Changchun Flight Academy.

Wang's space dream started in 2003, when China sent its first astronaut Yang Liwei into space. She told herself, "China now has a male astronaut. When will there be a female one?" At that time, Wang was a pilot in the Chinese army. After having safe flights for 1,600 hours during nine years in the training center, Wang was a strong candidate (候选人) to become an astronaut in 2010. In 2013, Wang realized her space dream. She was sent to space by Shenzhou-10. She joined the team of Shenzhou-13 in 2021 and flew into the space for the second time.

However, it is difficult to be an astronaut. She has to experience a lot of pain that most people can't stand and keep training all the time. Wang Yaping told Xinhua, "The space environment won't change because you are a woman." She pushed herself hard, getting the same training as men, including the pull-ups and barbells (杠铃). That finally made her dream come true.

"You are on the way to success as long as you stick to your dreams." Wang Yaping said. She set a good example to the young. Millions of students are encouraged and inspired by the most beautiful astronaut.