Amazing China in 60 Seconds is a short video series covering cultural and scenic hotspots across the country.
TibetTibet autonomous region in Southwest China, home to the highest plateau (高原) on Earth, is known as the "roof of the world". It's a paradise for tourists with its towering snow mountains, vast grasslands, peaceful lakes and breathtaking views. Must-visit places include the Potala Palace - a UNESCO world heritage site, Mount Qomolangma, Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon and more.
Tibet is also famed for its rich ethnic culture, including the Tibetan dance, age-old thangka painting and Lum medicinal bathing of Sowa Rigpa - traditional Tibetan bathing for a medical purpose which was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2018.
TianjinNeighboring the Chinese capital city of Beijing, Tianjin rests between the northern Yanshan Mountains and the coastal plain. Adjacent to the sea and rivers, it carries distinct ecological beauty.
Tianjin is where Eastern and Western cultures meet. It has many precious historical sites, former residences of celebrities and foreign-style architecture. Famous tourist destinations include the Tianjin Eye, the Huangyaguan Great Wall, and the Five Big Avenues area, which hosts about 2,000 villas in various Western styles built in the 1920s and 1930s.
ChongqingSouthwest China's Chongqing is largely built on mountains and surrounded by rivers; thus it is known as the "mountain city". Many people are drawn to Chongqing by its delicious food - especially its signature spicy hotpot - and natural scenery.
Boasting the largest number of hotpot restaurants in China, Chongqing was named "China's Hotpot City" by the China Cuisine Association in 2007. Statistics show there are more than 50,000 hotpot eateries across the city. With more than 3,000 year of history, Chongqing still preserves traditional culture and lifestyles.
After decades of work trying to save the giant panda, Chinese officials have announced the species is no longer endangered. The pandas have been reclassified in the country from endangered to vulnerable after efforts to increase the population. Now the number has risen to 1,800 in the wild.
"China has established a relatively complete nature reserves system," Cui Shuhong, director of the Department of Natural Ecological Protection of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said on Wednesday. "Large areas of natural ecosystems have been systematically and completely protected, and wildlife habitats have been effectively improved. "
The latest classification upgrade reflects their improved living conditions and China's efforts in keeping their habitats integrated, Cui added.
Bamboo makes up 90% of pandas' diets, and the animals would likely starve without the shoots. Experts believe China's efforts to replant bamboo forests have been the key to the increase in the population of pandas.
Generally speaking, a panda has to eat at least 26 pounds of bamboo every day to maintain its energy, so large areas of bamboo forests are primary to their survival.
Planting bamboo also has advantages for the planet, as the bamboo is grass, not a tree, and is incredibly efficient at absorbing carbon dioxide, as well as emitting 35% more oxygen than trees.
"The Chinese have done a great job in investing in panda habitats, expanding and setting up new reserves," Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of conservation at the World Wildlife Fund. told the media. "They are a wonderful example of what can happen when a government is committed to conservation. "
Continuing China's success will be dependent on the country protecting land from agricultural and urban development. As land becomes rarer, measures will need to be extended to protect more land, to ensure bamboo forests can thrive and as a result, protect the future of the world's most lovable, lazy, and monochrome (black and white) creature.
Bangkok's future hangs in the balance. Rising sea levels, unchecked development and rapid urban population growth have left millions helpless to natural disasters — scientists warn the city Bangkok may not survive the century.
But it does have a secret weapon in its battle to resist the impact of a hotter planet — LANDPROCESS, a Bangkok-based landscape architecture and urban design company founded in 2011 by the landscape architect Kotchakom Vbrkaakhom. She wants to shift the orientation from growth to the actions on environment and land and promotes mindful development instead of mindless construction.
She made her name by creating the internationally acknowledged Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park, an 11-acre space in central Bangkok, which tilts (倾斜) downward at a 3-degree angle, allowing rainwater to flow through the grass and wetlands. Water that's not absorbed by the plants runs down to a pond at the base of the park, where it can be stored for use during dry spells. In case of severe flooding, the park can hold up to a million gallons of water.
In 2018, she created Asia's largest rooftop farm, which imitates the region's famed rice terraces (梯田), preserving both water and soil. Uniquely, winding around the 22, 400m2 rooftop is a jogging path and a lawn.
Green space design of ecological cities emerged one after another, which not only expanded the design ideas of landscape industry, but also provided new strategies for people to deal with climate problems.
Later this year she will carry out plans to transform a vast, unused bridge crossing the Chao Phraya River into a park with bicycle lanes, bringing more green space. Kotchakom has even greater ambitions for her hometown — she wants to reuse the more than 1, 000 canals that snake through Bangkok that are currently used for waste water. "Canals have so much life, so much potential to be public green space and a skeleton (框架) of the whole city, " she explains.
LANDPROCESS has always listened to the needs of the society, and established a hannonious relationship between nature and human beings through design, so as to create a public landscape that can really give back to the society.
I sent a message to my sister at 12: 30 p. m. during my lunch to ask her about my father's progress. He was having his second knee surgery and my expectations were the same as the previous successful surgery. My brother picked me up from school and we headed for the hospital.
When we arrived at the hospital, my first question was "How is he doing?" My father was connected to a breathing machine and his face was very swollen. I tried my best not to cry because 1 was supposed to interpret for him what was happening as the nurses did not speak Spanish. I had never seen my father this way. He looked so fragile and different from the strong man I knew. I asked him how he was doing and he said he was fine. I returned to the lobby and I was in a state where I realized that my hero, best friend, and love of my life was in a dangerous state and at this point anything could happen.
I recalled on when I was a child. "I'm going to the store" were always his words, and that was without a doubt my cue to follow him. We would walk to the car, and sometimes if I was lucky, I got away with sitting in the front seat. We would arrive at the store and he always said "Get whatever you want and something for Ana"; Ana is my sister. My dad and I were best friends, he never showed preference with his children, but I just always happened to follow him. It was okay for me to cry when I wanted something because I was his youngest girl, he couldn't say no to me.
All along my father had dedicated his life to giving us the best. Growing up does not necessarily mean that one must distance from our parents because it is childish; it is a time to take action and embrace the feelings because it is the right thing to do. Life presents us signals to acknowledge and value what is the most important in life.
How is eating in space different from eating on Earth?
If you send astronauts into space, you have to send along food as well. But what do astronauts eat, and how do they eat it? Scientists take several factors into consideration as they plan meals for space.
First, and possibly most important, is nutrition (营养). Providing junk food to eat, such as potato chips, sodas, and pizza, would make the astronauts unhealthy.
If the food that has been provided is distasteful, then the astronauts may avoid eating it. If you've ever tried to concentrate on something important while your stomach doesn't feel well, you'll know why the scientists in charge of a space mission (task) want their astronauts to eat regularly.
The lack (缺少) of gravity (pull) in a spacecraft also determines what foods can or cannot be eaten in space. Meals must be packaged carefully so they won't spill(洒落/溢出) into the cabin (one of the areas inside a spacecraft). Water or tiny bits of food could get inside a machine or electronic device and damage it. A loose knife bouncing (弹起) around inside the cabin would be dangerous.
The weight of every object included in a spacecraft must be calculated (计算) in order to ensure that there is enough fuel and power to carry the craft safely into space and back home again. Most foods are stored in plastic bags, and often, the foods are dehydrated (使脱水). When an astronaut is ready to eat, hot water is added to the meal and warm it up.
Despite all these requirements, much of the food eaten in space is actually similar to what you might eat on any given day.
A. Taste is also important.
B. Finally, weight is an important concern.
C. Believe it or not, they also have fresh fruits and vegetables.
D. Food packaging is made to be as light as possible.
E. Nutrition and practicality (实用) are important things to consider.
F. Keeping astronauts' physical health is a top task for any space mission.
G. For the same reason, sharp knives and folks are never used on board.
"I knew when I saw you, I wanted to take you home," my dad says to me when I visit him one Saturday. There is a deep-seated 1 of a father seeing his daughter when she was born.
My father has Alzheimer's (老人痴呆症). He does not 2 express in words, so the sudden accuracy of his words 3 me.
Another Saturday, he points to a photo of me and says, "She's smart." Does he know the 4 person, 30 years older, is sitting beside him? It does not matter. At that moment I can feel his 5.
Now I bring a spoonful of yogurt to his lips. With a 6 hand, he touches me and says, "You're very good. Thank you. " He totally forgets it was he that 7 me in lifting a spoon to my mouth.
These words are all he can give now. But they make me understand more 8 my generous father.
His door was always 9. Drop-in visitors were welcomed with a drink. He would not 10 to give money to a family member in need. In the community, he 11 his time to preserve the historical buildings.
Time, advice, money. There were many ways he 12.
And he gives, still. The 13 has taken much from my father. What's 14 are his words. It's 15 for him to find the right word and say it out loud. Yet he keeps going.
Many people gave up long-distance travel this year (avoid) cross-infections of pandemic, with local tours and online tourism widely favored during the week-long Spring Festival holiday.
In addition to (tradition) winter attractions like hot springs and skiing venues, botanical gardens and local temple fairs became popular choices. The people couldn't return home were given a chance to get to know more about the places where they (lead) a life.
For the people who stayed at home, online tours became a new choice. They could enjoy beauty of places of interest online. After seeing the (lose) Buddha head shown at the gala(春晚)on television the eve of the Spring Festival, many people could have a feast for the eyes on the mystery of the retrieved(收回)treasure via VR technology through the WeChat without a long distance to the Tianlongshan Grottoes in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. (similar), the online travel platform of "Go-Yunnan" has launched lively feeds of famous scenic spots.
is believed that the sense of gain and (satisfy) of Chinese people will further improve.
School was over, the day was fading and it started to rain. I stood at the school gate, with a loaded backpack on my shoulders. It was Friday again—a weekend of joy with unlimited sleeping hours and dinner courses specially made to my taste. I waved goodbye to my friends as they jumped into their fathers' warm and comfortable cars. Curiously, this gave rise to a disturbing feeling in me. It was not exactly what they called jealousy (嫉妒), but something like depression. I knew all I could expect was an old bike Mom would ride along on, with the badly-oiled chain creaking against the wheel to announce her arrival.
Every Friday when Mom came to pick me up, it was a moment full of great expectation and great unease. I always felt my face burning as we rode our way in and out of the cars and saw my friends' faces sticking out of the car windows. It was like stepping into a ballroom with beautifully dressed ladies and finding yourself in a smelly T-shirt.
To tell you the truth, Mom is quite a headache occasionally. She looks like a homely middle-aged housewife. She knits (编织) most of my sweaters, chiefly in old styles. Whenever caught by some curious classmates asking what brand my sweaters are, I'd force a smile and reply in a half-joking manner: homemade. She simply doesn't seem to understand what's in fashion; Chanel or Gucci means nothing to her.
I couldn't remember when I started to find her such an embarrassment. As a little boy, I relied on her so much. She had been working at home, cooking in the kitchen, knitting by the lamp, or riding across town to buy me a book I badly needed. It had always been fun riding with her. I had enjoyed watching our shadows growing longer and shorter in an alternate fashion by the light of the streetlamps along the road. Just now there seemed to be something standing between us, something that made her so strange to me and me to her.
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Today Mom showed up in a raincoat.
……
Mom tried to cover me with the raincoat again as a storm set in.
