Yunnan offers exciting experiences of unique customs. If you are already planning to visit Yunnan, see our festival tours.
The Torch (火把) Festival
Date: July / August (days 24 to 26 of the sixth lunar month)
Location: Lijiang
It is a traditional festival among the Yi, Naxi, and Bai minority groups. According to the ancient rule of the Naxi people, the Torch Festival should last three days, and every family should light a big torch in front of their doors for the three days.
Recommended Tour: 3-Day Ancient Lijiang Tour
The Water Splashing (泼洒) Festival
Date: April 13 to 15
Location: Xishuangbanna
It is the most important festival observed by the Dai people of Xishuangbanna in southern Yunnan. It involves splashing water, lantern floating and other joyful activities.
Recommended tour: 6-Day Xishaungbanna Tour
The Horse Race Festival
Date: May/June (5th of the fifth lunar month)
Location: Shangri-la
Falling on the same date as the Dragon Boat Festival, it is the biggest gathering of Tibetans in Yunnan and usually lasts about 3 days. During the celebrations, traditional performances and competitions like horse racing and wrestling will be held.
Recommended tour: 8-Day Yunnan Tour of the Nu River and Tengchong
The Third Month Fair of the Bai Group
Date: April / May (days 15 to 21 of the third lunar month)
Location: Dali
It is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Bai people in Dali in western Yunnan. During the March Fair, the streets of Dali Ancient Town are packed with people selling amazing minority items.
Recommended tour: 6-Day Yunnan Minorities Tour
I finally climbed into bed at 1:20 in the morning. My friends had helped me celebrate my 31st birthday in the basement apartment, where I lived.
Earlier in the day I had prepared for the unlikely event of a flood. We are about a third of a mile from the banks of the Ahr River. It had been raining buckets that week and the government had sent out a flood warning, though not for where I was. Still, I'd placed sandbags on the floor outside my garden door and put electronics on tables. "Silly bro!" My friends laughed at me for doing that, but I thought, why take a chance?
As I drifted off to sleep, I was awakened by the sound of rushing water, as if I were lying beside a waterfall. When I got off the bed, I was shocked that cold water was rising fast. In darkness, I grabbed my cellphone and turned on the flashlight. When I stepped out of the bedroom, I saw water shooting through the gaps of the door.
I began to panic. I knew I had to get out fast! In bare feet, I started to make my way to the only escape: the door that led upstairs to the main floor. Finally I made it to the door and tried several times to pull it open even just a little bit, but the rushing water shut it again. I looked around for anything I could use to keep it open. There in the corner was a coat rack (架子). I took it and, once again, opened the door, throwing the coat rack between the door and the frame (门框) to keep the door from shutting. Finally, I managed to make a gap just wide enough to squeeze (挤) through and make it into the hallway.
I leaped onto the stairs and ran outside. I stood there in the darkness, wet through.What was once a lovely street was now a waterscape, with floating ruins instead of people and cars. The river had drowned (淹没) the neighborhood!
Just being smart doesn't mean someone will be successful. And just because someone is less smart doesn't mean that person will fail. That's one take-home message from the work of people like Angela Duckworth.
She works at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Like many other researchers, Duckworth wondered what makes one person more successful than another. When digging deeper, Duckworth found that the people who performed best shared a quality (品质) independent of smarts. They had what she now calls grit (毅力). Duckworth developed a set of questions to test it.
In one study of people 25 and older, she found that as people age, they become more likely to stick with a project. She also found that grit increases with education. People who had finished college scored higher in the grit test than people who quit before graduation did. People who went to graduate school after college scored even higher.
She then did another study with college students. Duckworth wanted to see how smarts and grit influenced performance in school. So she compared scores on college-entrance exams, which test IQ, to school grades and someone's score in the grit test. Students with higher grades seem to have more grit. That's not surprising. Getting good grades takes both smarts and hard work.
But some people counter that this grit means success. Among those people is Marcus Credé, a teacher at Iowa State University in Ames. He recently showed the results of 88 studies on grit. Together, nearly 67,000 people took part in these studies. And grit did not predict success, Credé found.
However, he thinks grit is very similar to someone's ability to set goals, work toward them and think things through before acting. It's a basic personality quality, Credé notes—not something that can be changed.
"Study habits and skills, test anxiety and class attendance are far more strongly connected to school grades than grit," Credé says. "We can teach students how to study well. We can help them with their test anxiety," he adds. "I'm not sure we can do that with grit."
Music streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music have completely changed how people listen to music nowadays. By paying very affordable prices, people can access music very easily. However, while these platforms may provide benefits for some artists, up-and-coming artists are being left behind because they only focus on big names and creating profits.
Because of COVID-19, musicians have not been able to tour or perform live in many countries, which contributes to a large part of their income. In a YouTube interview, up-and-coming Texas artist Mobey mentioned that "The majority of my income comes from playing live shows. Usually that means around 50%-70% of what we expect to make in a year". With these factors, small artists are finding it increasingly difficult to make it in the industry due to the lack of investment (投资) into new talent.
Small artists on Spotify and Apple Music can expect to make little to nothing. An artist on Spotify can expect to earn an average of $0.003 per stream or around $3 per 1, 000 streams for one of their songs. On Apple Music, artists can expect to make a little more with an average of $0.01 per stream, or around $10 with 1, 000 streams. Even if they could hit around 1,000 streams, they have to pay music distribution (分发) platforms needed for their music to be shown on the streaming platforms such as DistroKid, whose cheapest plan is $20.
A new artist would find it very difficult to promote their music outside of their social media accounts which may not even have a large amount of followers. They probably cannot get large amounts of streams on their music since it is not being promoted due to the lack of exposure (宣传) they have on social media.
With the takeover of music streaming platforms, many artists are finding it increasingly difficult to make a sustainable (可持续的) living from their love for music. A simple way these platforms can enable new artists to keep making music is to increase their payouts per stream for their music. Hopefully the music streaming industry will make similar changes to improve the situation of their artists.
Some people love travelling while some prefer to stay at home. If you don't love travelling, you can make a change now. Why? Please read on to know more.
Travelling takes you out of your comfort zone. Your comfort zone is comforting. When you step into new surroundings, you will learn about the world around you. Travelling alone is a great option. Some people might fear being on their own, but it can really help them grow.
. Are you afraid of water? If you are, go to the beach or a lake. Are you afraid of talking to strangers? If so, go to a new place and talk with people you have never seen. Remember, fear can be overcome.
Travelling is a good way to expand your mind. It gets you out of a routine and makes you use your brain, your ears and your eyes. While travelling, there are a lot of things that have to be taken in: new sights, new flavours, new noises, etc. .
Have you ever thought about travelling abroad as a volunteer? You can benefit a lot from this kind of trip. Sometimes, you can even get all of your meals and accommodation for free. Volunteer tourism is becoming more and more popular. There are many ways to make a difference and benefit you at the same time.
A. Because you can really benefit a lot from travelling.
B. All of them require your complete attention.
C. It is not as expensive as you might expect.
D. This kind of trip is really popular with people.
E. Travelling can help you remove your fears.
F. You are exposed to many new things.
G. But it doesn't always give you the opportunity to grow.
When Susan was a high school student, her English teacher, Fred DiMeo, asked her to carry out a task: Recite (背诵) a poem in front of the whole class.
"I had a mild stutter (口吃), which tried the 1 of my classmates," Susan said. The thought of 2 in front of the class and stuttering through the 3 was too much to bear. When the day of the recitation came, Susan, painfully shy and 4 , recited the poem. Once she was done, DiMeo said something she'd never 5 before: that he liked listening to her voice. For the first time, she 6 that public speaking didn't have to be a source of 7 . "I think in his mind he just wanted me to 8 I have nothing to be afraid of," Susan said.
Susan went on to graduate from high school and go to college. She never got to 9 thank DiMeo. Sometime after college, she managed to 10 a job as a trainer. The work made her know how big an 11 DiMeo had had on her confidence. "It's so 12 to stand up in front of people and speak with them. And I do it all the time," she said.
Susan recently found a way to 13 her teacher, and sent him a letter expressing her 14 . " You played a big role in my life," she wrote. "I don't know where I would've gone if I felt like I had to keep my voice 15 because I was afraid of embarrassing (使尴尬) myself. "
Chinese wine culture has a long and rich history, dating back thousands of years. One of the most famous traditional Chinese (wine) is Baijiu, which is made from grains such as rice and wheat. People often drink it during important celebrations. Another popular type of Chinese wine is Huangjiu, also (know) as yellow wine. Huangjiu is a fermented(发酵的) rice wine and has a (soft) taste compared to Baijiu. It is (common) used in cooking and is a popular ingredient in traditional Chinese dishes. Huangjiu is also enjoyed a drink, with different varieties and flavors available across different areas of China.
In Chinese culture, wine is often associated with toasting(祝酒), is an important gesture in Chinese wine culture and helps to create a warm and (harmony) atmosphere. Furthermore, wine is often used in traditional Chinese medicine. Certain types of wine (believe) to have health benefits and are used for medicinal purposes. In recent years, imported wines, particularly red wine, (gain) popularity among Chinese Wine appreciation and wine tasting events have become increasingly common, (provide) opportunities for both locals and foreigners to learn and experience different wine cultures.
Whichever and whatever you like, there is an incredible theme park that will you.
His English teacher the cause of education.
And the ship brought you to England.
I saw him, I knew he was the man the police were looking for.
At that time, citizens abroad.
1. 提供辩论题目；
2. 说明选题理由。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，使内容充实，行文连贯。
Dear David,
Yours,
Li Hua
