【推荐1】What is a hero? We may think of the fictional characters with supernatural powers or great people who can influence world events. Now, as the nation continues its all-out efforts to fight against the novel coronavirus pneumonia (新冠肺炎), medical staff have become heroes in the eyes of the public.

As of Feb 19, a total of 32, 000 medical staff outside Hubei province have been working to treat patients around the center of the outbreak.

Zhang Dingyu, the president of Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, is one of these heroes, since the hospital received the first seven patients in December, Zhang has been so busy that he barely gets any sleep. Even suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (肌萎缩侧索硬化), the 56-year-old doctor is doing his best to quicken his pace to save precious time for infected patients.

“I have to run, racing against time to save more patients from the deadly disease, because I don’t have much time left in my life, ” Zhang told Xinhua News Agency.

With the duty of saving lives, many medical professionals like Zhang have been working long hours for days, despite their fear and worries.

Lu Jingjing from Wuhan Children’s Hospital also works at a temporary mobile hospital. She does not let her parents know that she is now working with novel coronavirus-infected patients.

When her parents ask for a video chat, Lu says she is working and lets her husband and children chat with them instead.

“It’s dangerous but we should win the battle with the virus as soon as possible, so that medical staff and patients can go back home, ” she told China Daily.

US writer Khalil Gibran (1883- 1931) once wrote, “Tenderness (温柔) and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair (绝望), but the manifestations of strength and resolution.” It’s true for the medical workers.

Everyone has fear, especially when it comes to deadly diseases. But for medical staff, saving lives comes first and is enough for them to be brave and stay on the front. They may look like ordinary people in daily life, but in these extraordinary (不同寻常的) times, they are heroes.

【推荐2】World history has seen three ancient dramas: Greek tragedy and comedy; Indian Sanskrit drama; and Chinese opera. The first two have become historical and only Chinese opera has survived.

Chinese opera took shape in the 12th century. After developing for more than 800 years, its abundant local styles of opera are still enjoying great popularity, of which Qinqiang is one of the most ancient operas.

Qingiang opera is a thousand-year-old local opera originating in China’s inland northwestern region. It has established a unique tradition as an “opera shouted out” with its high-pitched arias(高音唱腔). Li Mei has won a reputation as one of the four greatest Qinqiang actresses. She’s also known for her passionate commitment to exploring the theatrical possibilities offered by Qinqiang.

Li Mei and her workmates are halfway through an afternoon rehearsal(排练)and most have broken into a sweat. Singing in a near-whisper, the forty-year-old opera star performs the stylized movements for the leading role—the bitter dead Lady Li Huiniang in Ghost’s Hate.

Little wonder that Li Mei is such a powerful presence on stage. She’s the greatest contributory actress who’s able to interpret a character so compellingly and tell a story so convincingly that European audiences warmly hug this unfamiliar art form.

Li Mei said, “We performed this opera in the Netherlands to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the founding of Holland’s National Theatre. We enjoyed a fifteen-minute curtain call and the audiences applauded wildly for a long time. The local press entitled me the ‘Nemesis of the Orient’ and the ‘Chinese Venus’. Why is that so? Because they’ve fully understood what the opera implied—the loyalty towards love, and dead as she may be, her love persists.

The reason why this opera was able to touch millions of hearts is that it has a beautiful story presented by a beautiful art form.

【推荐3】Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has been widely applied in a national park in Northwest China to track snow leopards inhabiting the region.

The Al-aided digital toolbox can automatically(自动地) distinguish the species in the Qilian Mountains National Park, Gansu province, from other wildlife, using images captured by infrared cameras(红外相机). The technology, jointly developed by Chinese Internet giant Tencent, the World Wild Fund and One Planet Foundation, can thus improve data processing efficiency.

Located at around 3, 500 meters above sea level, the Qilian Mountains with vast stretches of bare rocks reaching from the grass provide a favorable hideaway shelter for the snow leopards.

Though more than 200 cameras have been put in the region, sorting out relevant information had not been easy for researchers.

“For conducting further studies on the population, distribution and activities of the snow leopards, a flagship species in the region, the cameras would capture hundreds of thousands of video clips and photos every quarter,” said Ma Duifang with the administration bureau of the park's Gansu section.

“Even a slight movement in the environment, such as a mild breeze blowing over the grass, can activate the cameras. Sometimes, curious wildlife bumps into the device triggering the shutter(触发快门), and the cameras take pictures of mere clouds,” Ma added.

Ma and his colleagues had to go through each video frame by frame(逐帧地). The information of species that appeared on the images also required human input, so it often took them several weeks to complete such tasks.

Tencent’s engineering team has independently developed a species recognition algorithm(算法) by means of transfer leaning and automatic data enhancement. Thanks to Al technologies, researchers in the Qilian Mountains National Park no longer need to work like mad in search of leopards hiding out in the wild.

“The forest police can now locate a snow leopard from 1, 000 pictures in just about 20 minutes, much faster than before,” said Huang Xiangqi, one of the tech developers.

Snow leopards are under China’s highest national-level protection and are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

In China, they can be spotted in cold areas in southwestern, northwestern, and northern regions including Tibet, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Gansu and Inner Mongolia.

“We hope we can combine monitoring data with field investigation to help researchers identify the wild species so as to draw up a more specific plan for their protection,” said Ma Yao, director of the project, hoping the digital toolbox can he used in more countries.

【推荐1】Having grown up in northern Arizona with the immortal Grand Canyon and the iron red plateaus of Sedona in my backyard, I believed that the southwestern state is home to the most beautiful landscapes on the planet. Towering mountain titans, a cozy valley and an infinite blue sky promised fantastic potential for exploration. For me, no newly discovered sights or foreign landscapes can compare with its beauty.

That is, until I was invited to explore Guizhou province by the China Storyteller Partnerships Tour. Had someone vividly described how beautiful Guizhou can be in poetic detail, they would not have done it exactly. There is no substitute for seeing with one’s own eyes. I will attempt to do so.

During my trip around the city of Xingyi, in Guizhou, I saw the artwork of the Bouyei ethnic group. They use dyes produced from local plants to make clothing of striking blues and greens. Local elders still practice weaving with artful wooden machines and pass that tradition on to their grandchildren.

My father used to drag my brothers and me on yearly fishing trips around Arizona. We would compete to catch the largest fish, and in the mornings, Dad would cook us a basic breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. I sat in a small boat in the middle of the lake, with fishing pole moving slowly in my impatient hands, and held my bored tongue while my father attempted to share with me the whispers of the wind, a fish dancing on the surface of the lake or the majesty of a hawk hunting for prey overhead. On my trip to Guizhou I had the opportunity to paddle on Wanfeng lake. At one point I rested, floating at the center of the lake, listening to the spaces between silence and taking in the surrounding karst (喀斯特) mountains. I thought about my childhood, and wished I had listened more closely to my father while fishing.

I’ve lived away from Arizona for 10 long years, carving my own destiny in China. I’ve managed to build myself a family, a career, a livelihood, and various projects. I feel as though I have everything that I need. For a moment, in Guizhou, I felt home.

【推荐3】Apart from speeches, in my point of view, we can use our eyes to express ourselves. And through one’s eyes, we can read sorrow, happiness, encouragement, and many other emotions. Eyes are always the most direct organs to reveal our thoughts.

Until now I still remember an experience, which happened when I took part in a singing contest at the age of nine. It was the power of my mother’s eyes that encouraged me to go for it. I had shown great interest in singing before that, but I was too shy to sing in public. So one day my mother took me to sign up for the singing contest. With my mother’s company and encouragement, I was determined to meet that challenge. Standing on the stage, I suddenly found I had become the focus of all attention. I got so nervous that I couldn’t even keep my eyes open. When it was my turn to be introduced to the audience and sing, I became even more nervous. I felt my legs were shaking and my memory seemed to have left me—I couldn’t remember anything. Searching for help, I met my mother’s eyes which were sparkling with encouragement and strong power. It seemed that they were speaking to me, “Take it easy. You can do it! I’ll always be with you!” I read the message in her eyes and at that moment I got my confidence back and began to sing my song. When I came down from the stage, she came up to me, saying, “Great! I’m proud of you!” and gave me a big hug. At that moment. I saw her eyes filled with tears of joy. Sometimes, you see, just a look of encouragement from a loved one can make a shy person brave.