Langshan Mountain, lying in Xinning County, is about 500 kilometers away from Changsha. It is one of China's National Geological Parks and is famous for its special Danxia landform(丹霞地貌).

    Covering an area of 108 square kilometers, Langshan Mountain has rich natural scenery and lots of tourism resources. There are more than 60 scenic spots (景点) in Langshan Mountain, among which the most famous are Tianyi Lane(天一巷), Chili Peak(辣椒峰), Bajiao Stronghold(八角寨) and so on.

    On August 2nd, 2010, Langshan Mountain was recorded in the World Heritage List(世界遗产名录) and became China's eighth world natural heritage.

    If you would like to visit Langshan Mountain, you can take a bus from Shaoyang South Station to Xinning County. It will take you about 2 hours and the price of the bus ticket is 54 yuan each adult. Then you can take a taxi to Langshan Mountain. The best time to visit Langshan Mountain is from March to October.

    Kites have a long history. They may date back(追溯到) long time ago. They were made of bamboo and silk in China. Nobody knows exactly how or when a kite was first flown, but it is said that when a Chinese farmer tied a string(绳子) to his hat to keep it from blowing away in a strong wind, the first kite was born.

    Children like playing with kites. Kites for work or play are made of wood, bamboo, paper, or silk. In 478 B.C., a Chinese philosopher(思想家), Mo Zi, spent three years making a kite out of light wood and bamboo. The earliest record of kite flying was in about 200 B.C. when the Chinese General(将军) Han Xin of Han Dynasty flew a kite over the walls of a city. He wanted to know how far his army would have to travel.

    In the 13^th century, Marco Polo wrote about how the shipping businessmen flew the huge kite in the wind before the ship set sail. They predicted the voyage(航海) in this way. If the kite went high and straight it meant a quick and successful voyage, but if it did not fly well,  it was a bad omen(预兆). In the late 1500s, the kite was introduced to Europe by the Italians. Kite flying was first mentioned in England in a popular book in 1589.

    There is a library in our school. It is near our classroom. It is on the first floor. Our school library is not very big, but it is very nice. There are many books in the library. Some are in Chinese, some are in English. I like reading very much. I often go there to borrow(借）books. The librarian is a woman. She is very good. We all like her very much.

    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. By the time the Chinese silk trade became important in the world, the Silk Road covered almost 6500 kilometers. It spread from Rome to China, which is from the West to the Far East.

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

    There is a famous old story along the old road. It is said that Roman soldiers（士兵）travelled through central Asia. They started 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 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 the sharing of 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 travelled the Silk Road, and they shared goods, stories, languages, and cultures.

    In modern times, the old Silk Road routes（路线）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.