Qiang Shuping was so busy making cloth shoes {#blank#}1{#/blank#} she didn't even rest during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. The woman from Baipu County, Jiangsu Province, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (make) shoes since she was 19 years old, and this year marks her 3lst year making cloth shoes.

    She spends the entire day in her tiny studio, which {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(measure) less than 10 square meters altogether, filled with cloth shoes in {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(variety) stages of completion.

    Nowadays, many stores make cloth shoes {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(use) machines, but Qiang sticks to the technique of making shoes entirely {#blank#}6{#/blank#} hand. She say the shoes {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(produce) by machine are not of the same quality as handmade ones. The handmade cloth shoes are more durable（耐用的）and comfortable, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (soft), and absorb sweat better.

    Some people buy cloth shoes out of nostalgia（怀旧）, while others trust {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(they) quality. Making shoes isn't a profitable job, but Qiang still insists as she wants to preserve the craft and pass it down to the younger generation.

    Handmade cloth shoes are also called qiancengdi (shoes with a thousand layers), {#blank#}10{#/blank#} can date back to the ancient Zhou Dynasty. In 2009, the making technique of qiancengdi was listed as the national intangible cultural heritage（非物质文化遗产）

    Mochi (年糕) is a traditional food popular in Chinese and Japanese cooking, made from {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (special) treated rice. It is often presented in the form of a round cake, and is traditionally exchanged at the New Year.

Mochi is made by {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (put) sticky rice into water overnight, cooking it and pounding it into a sticky paste. The paste is made into shapes ranging from simple to complex rounds, some of {#blank#}3{#/blank#} are stuffed with sweet fillings. Mochi is often decorated with {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (flower) or fruits, especially when it is exchanged as {#blank#}5{#/blank#} gift at celebrations like birthdays and the New Year.

    Traditionally, wooden mortars (臼) and pestles (杵) {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (use) to pound mochi rice. Fresh mochi is usually cooked and served warm {#blank#}7{#/blank#} a variety of sauces. Steaming and boiling are both popular preparations in Japan, along with cooking. Fresh mochi is soft but it{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (hard) quickly. Prepacked mochi blocks, flattened and cut into square pieces or shaped into rounds, are available at grocery stores. Mochi can go bad easily, so it's {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (good) to cook soon than to keep it in your fridge.

    Hard mochi pieces can be cooked, deep-fried, boiled, and more. Cooked mochi is very sticky, so be careful not {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (choke) on it.