1 . It is common to see most live streamers (主播) sitting in front of a desk in a well-decorated room. But Zeng Qinghuan, a 30-year-old from Xinhua County in Loudi, Hunan, has turned her whole village into alive streaming set. Her goal is to use e-commerce to help her people live a better life.

Known as “Xiangmei Xinbao” on Douyin, Zeng now has more than 3 million followers. One of her videos about traditional ways of planting and harvesting rice has attracted more than 300,000 followers.

At the beginning, she didn’t make any money. Zeng’s parents didn’t give her any support until she could stand on her own feet and help people sell their products. She has now sold local agricultural products worth tens of millions of yuan, like fermented tofu, preserved pork and dried sweet potatoes.

“I’m a daughter of the great mountains. I can also be a contributor to rural development in this new times,” she said.

Zeng hopes her experience can encourage more young people to return to their rural hometowns and start their own businesses. In 2021, after she became a deputy (代表) of the Loudi Municipal People’s Congress, she put forward a proposal to ensure that “each village has one product and one live streaming host of its own”, She plans to help cultivate 100 social media influencers from her county within three years, and two villages have taken part in the project. “I believe that the rural areas will become a big stage, and being a farmer will be seen as a respectable job too,” said Zeng.

2 . Five years ago, Chinese skater Wu Dajing introduced himself to the skating world by winning a silver medal at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games. At Pyeong Chang Olympics, Wu not only returned, but also made history.

On Feb 22th, 2018, Wu won the gold medal in the men’s short-track 500-metre race. He set a new world record with a time of 39.584 seconds. He also became the first Chinese man to take home an Olympic short-track gold medal. BBC said Wu’s win was “flawless”, because he was much faster than all of the other skaters.

“I didn’t give them a chance and I kept my speed from the start,” he told the media after the match.

But China’s short-track teams didn’t do well in general at the Games. Chinese skaters in the women’s 500 metres, 3000-metre relay and men’s 1500 metres all failed to take home the gold. Wu was China’s biggest hope, which put a lot of pressure on him. But he proved himself with his great performance.

Wu is now known as a highly talented skater. But things were not always that way. When Wu joined the national team in 2010, he was seen as almost “nothing” compared to gifted skaters like Zhou Yang and Fan Kexin, as his coaches said at the time. Their comments made him quite upset. But as the saying goes. “Winners never quit (放弃) and quitters never win”. Wu didn’t want to give up and worked as hard as he could. He practiced skating all year round. He even didn’t return to his hometown for the holidays for 10 years. “I believe in myself.” he told the media after his match at the Olympics.

Anyone who has an interest in Dunhuang will have heard of Fan Jinshi. The Chinese archaeologist     1     has spent more than half a century researching and preserving the caves at the heart of the ancient Silk Road in Gansu Province     2     (know) as the “Daughter of Dunhuang” in her field, though “protector” is probably a more fitting     3     (describe).

Fan has been studying the historical site since the early 1960s, first as     4     archaeology undergraduate from Peking University, then as a conservationist when she     5     (become) the deputy director of the Dunhuang Research Academy in 1984, which serves to prevent the ancient site     6     being destroyed.

“It. is over a thousand years old. It is an old person, an     7     (extreme) weak old person. It has     8     (variety) illnesses. If you are a little careless, it could be gone. Gone forever Fan says.

Today, thanks to the work of great     9     (archaeologist) such as Fan, Dunhua is proud of the world’s largest and best-preserved collection of Buddhist relics     10     (date) from the fifth to the 13th centuries. The main Mogao site is made up of 735 caves spread across a 1,700-metre-wide cliff face, containing 45,000 square meters of murals (壁画) and more than 2,000 colourful sculptures.

9 . The 36-year-old Jia Juntingxian was born in Pingxiang, Jiangxi Province, and was blind in both eyes due to congenital eye disease. She showed athletic talent since childhood and was selected as a track and field athlete by Jiangxi Disabled Persons’ Federation.

Although she can’t see the world, Jia breaks through the “immediate” obstacles again and again while running, letting the world see her. In her sports career, Jia has won 43 national and world-class sports medals. Among them, in 2016, she broke the world record and stood on the podium(领奖台)of the women’s T11-T13 4×100-meter relay event at the Rio Paralympics.

In 2017, Jia retired and chose to become a teacher at a special education school. Just a year ago, she found out that two young brothers, with visual impairments(视觉障碍), wanted to be an athlete. They had never attended a special education school and never achieved their athletic dream. Jia could only help them attend a local special education school. The experience made her realize that these children living in remote areas may have little knowledge of special education. Even she didn’t know about such schools until late into her education. As a result, she decided to become more involved with special education.

Changing from a Paralympic competitor to a special education teacher, Jia said that there is no discomfort, “Because I understand the students as well as myself and knows the inconveniences and difficulties of the children. I hope that every child is like a different seed. Through hard study, they can bravely realize their own life.”

Jia also has paid close attention to the rights and interests of disabled people. In 2021, Jia proposed the construction of audible traffic signals for blind people. Her advice to local authorities on dog management has resulted in more indoor public places allowing the disabled to enter with their assistance dogs. Jia and her husband founded a massage(按摩)shop and currently employ 16 visually impaired people, with an average monthly salary of 3500 yuan per person.

Jia always believes that the world is a circle, as long as the love of others is constantly passed on, the whole society will be full of love!

10 . Four Books about Super Scientists

You’ll find the lives of these top minds to be as inspiring as they are exciting in the following books.

The Extraordinary Life of Alan Turing

Second World War code-breaker Alan Turing features on the Bank of England’s new £50 note as a computer pioneer. This biography follows him from his childhood as a quiet boy who loved maths to becoming one of the most important scientists in history.

100 Scientists Who Made History

Bringing together mini-biographies of 100 scientists and innovators, this book will give you an overview of the history of science. Including astronauts, biologists, chemists, coders, doctors and physicists, it features fun facts about everyone from Hippocrates and Leonardo da Vinci through to Marie Curie and Stephen Hawking.

Rosalind Franklin: A Life Story

Rosalind Franklin was the scientist whose contribution to a crucial discovery in DNA — the chemical that tells your body how to grow and develop — was not recognized until after her death. This book shines a light on the extraordinary story of her life and achievements, using timelines, illustrations and fascinating facts.

40 Inspiring Icons: Super Scientists

Each part of this colourful illustrated book introduces you to a different “super scientist” and their discoveries. This is a fun and easy way to learn about all sorts of ideas, including Louis Pasteur’s vaccinations and Ada Lovelace’s invention of mysterious codes.