Music is an international language, spanning cultures across the world, and, in fact, across time. Looking at today's musical landscape, certain cities truly stand out for their music scenes. Here we're naming some of our favorite cities for music.
Nashville
With the nickname "Music City", Nashville makes our list of best music cities. You're bound to hear live music anywhere, whether at your hotel bar, or at the historic Ryman Auditorium. Nashville is not only home to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Johnny Cash Museum, but it's still active in the recording studio scene.
Vienna
If you're after classical music on your next vacation, be sure to head to Vienna. Once the capital of the Habsburg Empire, the city was the center of all societal affairs which included music. The greatest classical composers—from Mozart to Haydn to Beethoven to Mahler—all lived and worked in Vienna at one point or another.
New York
New York has been described as a "melting pot（熔炉）" of cultures, and that applies to its music, too. The 20th century was particularly fruitful for New York's music scene. During this time, it became the birthplace of hip-hop, disco, and salsa music, among other styles. The list truly goes on and on.
New Orleans
The city is filled with jazz, where you can listen to the great music every night. Of course, you can catch jazz at venues across town—the genre was born here, after all. If you're a huge jazz fan, you might want to consider visiting during the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
I live in Xizhou in Yunnan Province, on the historic Tea Horse Road. I have to admit that when I first heard that Paul Salopek was going to walk the entire globe on his own two feet, I was blown away. I couldn't imagine that there could be such an unusual person in the world.
Last May, I met Paul. He told me that it was his first time in China. He talked to me with great excitement about the history, migrations, and discoveries in my region of China. He spoke of the Shu-Yandu Dao （the Southern Silk Road）, the travels of the 17th-century Chinese explorer Xu Xiake, the Tea Horse Road and the early 20th-century American botanist Joseph Rock. He also talked of Xuanzang. Paul considered them heroes and in a sense Chinese pioneers of slow journalism.
I decided to accompany Paul on his walk toward Yunnan. On September 28, 2021, we set out. Our days were simple: walk, eat, sleep, and repeat. We woke up at sunrise, set off in high spirits, and rested at sunset, dragging ourselves into exhausted sleep.
We met many people on the road. Some were curious, surrounding us and watching us; some gave us directions; some invited us into their home to take a rest; some spoke of the charm of their hometown. We met many beautiful souls, simple souls and warm souls. We were walking with our minds.
Together, we were impressed by the biodiversity of the Gaoligong Mountains. As I walked on ancient paths through mountains, I seemed to hear the antique voices of past travelers urging me to be careful on the road.
Looking back on the more than 200 miles I walked with Paul, I came to a realization. Walking for its own sake, while health y and admirable, is only a small part of the benefit of moving with our feet. A deeper reward is rediscovering the world around us, shortening the distance between each other, and sharing each other's cultures.
The Japanese government said it planned to begin the discharge （排放） of slightly radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Thursday, rejecting calls for a delay from some people in neighboring countries.
An earthquake and tsunami knocked out power at the Fukushima nuclear plant on March 11, 2011, causing meltdowns at three reactors. Tritium （氚） and carbon-14 are, respectively, radioactive forms of hydrogen（氢） and carbon, and are difficult to separate from water. They are widely present in the natural environment, water and even in humans, as they are formed in the Earth's atmosphere and can enter the water cycle. Both emit very low levels of radiation but can pose a risk if absorbed in large quantities. Water which was used to cool reactor cores as well as rainwater and groundwater that flowed into or near the plant have been contaminated with radioactive substances. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power, or Tepco, has stored the water in more than 1,000 tanks at the facility but says it is running out of room.
Tepco says it will reduce the concentration（浓度） of nearly all radioactive substances in the wastewater to a safe level with the exception of tritium, an isotope（同位素） of hydrogen. The water will then get diluted（稀释）with seawater so the concentration of tritium is reduced to a safe level before the discharge, according to Tepco. As the water is diluted further in the ocean, the concentration of tritium will almost equal the natural level by 6 miles from the discharge point, which is at the end of an undersea tunnel about six-tenths of a mile from the shoreline, a Tepco official said.
But that hasn't reassured many of Japan's neighbors, with officials from China and the Pacific Islands voicing alarm and opposition to the plan. Beijing will take "necessary measures" to safeguard food safety and its people's health, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Tuesday, adding they "strongly urge the Japanese side to correct its wrongful decision." Meanwhile, fishing communities in Japan and South Korea worry the wastewater release could mean the end of their livelihoods—with consumers across the region already beginning to quit seafood from Japan and its nearby waters, and some governments even banning imported food from parts of Japan, including Fukushima.
0.6 miles offshore.
D . The concentration of tritium will be nearly at the natural level after being diluted further in the ocean.The ranking of universities and colleges at the national global level is a well-known doubtful practice. Imperfect approaches generate inaccurate results of these institutions. Nowadays, prestigious（有威望的） law and medical schools have started to walk away from this "evaluation".
There are two obvious methodological problems with all of this. One is that the numerical rankings suffer from false precision. Is there really a difference between No.10 and No.11 in the undergraduate （本科生） school rankings? Johns Hopkins University famously had a plan called"10 by 20"with the goal of getting to No.10 by 2020. Hopkins is a great undergraduate institution—whether it's No.10 or No.11 is meaningless, but it did indeed make it into the top 10 ahead of schedule, which no doubt delighted its trustees and students.
The other methodological problem is that rankings reward those schools that promote measurements by admitting students who have had the advantages of better pre-college education and test preparation coaching, and whose wealth will make them likely future donors. Equally worthy applicants without such resources will fail to enter the schools.
The good news is that in recent months, a reckoning（清算） has begun. Last September, Columbia University chose not to participate in the undergraduate rankings after an enterprising professor discovered that the school was fudging its own numbers. If Columbia's data were corrected, it would drop from No. 2 to No. 18. Two months later, law schools began pushing back. Yale and Harvard Law Schools announced that they would refuse to provide data to U. S. News, and several outstanding law schools followed suit.
This resistance to rankings has now begun in the world of science. This is a great sign. In announcing its decision, the dean of Washington University's medical school said, "…it is time to stop participating in a system that does not serve our students or their future patients."
Seeing the Good in Others
Many interactions these days have a kind of bumper-car（碰碰车） quality to them. At work, at home, on the telephone, or via email: we bounce off each other while we exchange information, smile or frown, and move on. In fact, we're most likely to notice the bad qualities in others rather than the good ones.
Unfortunately, if you feel surrounded by lots of bad qualities in others, you naturally feel less supported, less safe, and less likely to be generous or pursue your dreams. Plus, it functions oppositely. But actually, seeing the good in others is a simple way to feel happier and more confident . Below are some useful suggestions for you.
Slow down. Step out of the bumper car and spend a few moments being curious about the good qualities in the other person. Instead, you are opening your eyes, taking off the glasses of the negativity bias, and seeing what the facts really are.
See positive intentions. Recently, I was at the dentist's, and her assistant told me a long story about her electric company. My mouth was full of cotton wads, and I didn't feel interested. But then I started noticing her underlying aims: to put me at ease, fill the time until she could pull the cotton out, and connect with each other as people.
Going through school, I routinely picked last for teams in PE. Then, in my first year at UCLA, I gave intramural touch football a try. We had a great quarterback（四分卫） who was too small for college football. After one practice, he told me in passing, "You're good, and I'm going to throw to you." I was surprised. But this was the beginning of my realization that I was actually quite a good athlete. His recognition also made me play better, which helped our team.
See positive character traits. Unless you're surrounded by deadbeats and sociopaths, everyone you know must have many virtues, such as determination, generosity, kindness, patience, energy, grit, honesty, fairness, or compassion. Take a moment to observe virtues in others. .
A. See abilities.
B. Cooperate with others.
C. You are not looking through smog-colored glasses.
D. You, too, have positive intentions, real abilities, and virtues of mind and heart.
E. How often do we actually take the extra few seconds to see others' good qualities?
F. You could also make a list of virtues in key people in your life—even in people who are challenging for you.
G. When another person feels that you don't really see much that's good in him or her, that person is less likely to take the time to see much that's good in you.
I walked through the market for diapers （纸尿布）, the thing we needed the most; they were the first thing I 1 . My one-year-old son, who was admiring everything on the shelves with his mouth open and eyes wide,was pretty 2 about anything. Suddenly, he pointed at a bunch of bananas and 3 .
"Nanas!"
I pulled out my wallet only to find the lonely bills: a five and two ones, with no coins. If the bananas didn't weigh too much, I had just enough cash to 4 the cost. Otherwise, I had to write another cheque. I still 5 the bananas, happy to see the smile on my son's face. He tried to open one, but I told him, "Not yet," and he waited patiently.
The total 6 came to $7.87. I gave the cashier the seven dollars in cash and started writing a 7 for the only eighty-seven cents. It was hard, and a little 8 .
It was already halfway written, while a 9 came. "Don't worry." I looked up at the lady who reached 10 out of her purse and handed it to the cashier. "I've got some 11 ."
Trying my best to 12 tears, I said, "Thank you so much."
I'll never forget that day, 13 the beautiful woman showed me what real 14 was, the kind of giving with love behind it. And I, 15 , will do the same. Whenever I have change and anyone in front of me in line is in need, I make sure to dig into my purse and provide.
Pan Yuzhen, inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Miao embroidery（刺绣） of the Miao ethnic group, comes Taijiang county of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture in Southwest China's Guizhou province.
In 2016, Pan and other embroiderers from Guizhou went to the United Kingdom to participate in （variety） fashion show activities foreigners interested in Miao embroidery flocked to take photos with the Chinese embroiderers. "Foreigners are fond of our embroidery, （particular） at Christmas. They even queue up just to buy a notebook （decorate） with embroidery or an embroidery pendant for their families. I never （think） that the craftsmanship handed down by my ancestors would sell so well abroad," Pan said.
"Miao embroidery is not only the （proud） of our Miao people, but also the glory of our Chinese people," Pan said, "Now, not only I, but families in Taijiang County （be） engaged in the Miao costume business . I am 77 years old now, and I want to pass my embroidery skills down to the younger generation, （hope） that they can continue to inherit our Miao ancestors' unique skills."
A Change of Heart
It was a cold winter and my family had a tough struggle. Mum had a bitter time raising us kids by herself in our small community as dad passed away five years earlier. We relied on social assistance.
Looking back, I realized what Mum went through sending us kids to school. Every morning she would place a new piece of cardboard in our shoes because our shoes were worn out. When we got home, Mum would have French toast ready for us. Constant moving was typical for my family in those days, and it didn't look like we'd be in our current house much longer. Rent was $25 a month, but Mum couldn't pay it, and we knew we would be forced to leave right after Christmas on the first of January.
The holidays were fast approaching, and we were given $25 for Christmas from social services. Mum said that instead of buying food, she was going to use the money to pay our rent. That way we'd have a roof over our heads for a little while longer. Then she told us that there would be no Christmas gifts.
Unbeknown to Mum, I had been selling Christmas trees, shoveling （铲） snow and doing odd jobs to earn enough money to buy a new pair of boots. I knew exactly which boots I wanted. They were ten-inch, Top-Genuine, Pierre Paris boots, and they cost $23.
The big day for getting my boots came on Christmas Eve afternoon. I was very excited as I hurried up the road to catch the bus into town. It was only a half-mile walk, but on the way I noticed a house with Christmas lights and decorations. It was then that I realized at our house, we had no lights, no decorations and no turkey or ham for Christmas dinner.
注意：
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As I continued walking, I began to feel strangely ashamed.
With decorations and food, I reached home.
