【推荐1】Singapore’s tradition of eating out in places called hawker centers is now recognized by the United Nations for its cultural importance.

A hawker is a person who sells food or goods and advertises by shouting at people walking by on the street. Hawkers are an important part of Singaporean culture. Open-air eating areas where hawkers sell their goods are very popular. Famous chefs, such as Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsay have praised them.

On Wednesday, the United Nations, cultural agency, UNESCO, added the city’s “hawker culture,” to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Singapore sought to have hawker culture added to the list about two years ago. Now that it has been recognized, Singapore must provide a report every six years to UNESCO. The report must show efforts the city-state has made to save and support its hawker culture.

“These centers serve as ‘community dining rooms’, where people from diverse backgrounds gather and share the experience of dining over breakfast, lunch and dinner,” UNESCO said.

In the 1970s, Singapore cleaned up its streets so the city moved street hawkers to new eating centers. These areas were part of an effort to improve the island. Now, the centers offer many different low-cost meals for local people and provide a pleasing social setting. The 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians showed its stars enjoying meals at a famous night market. Some sellers even received Michelin stars from a famous restaurant rating system for their meals costing only a few dollars.

But, now the average age of a hawker in Singapore is 60 years old. Younger Singaporeans now want to work in offices. They are less interested in working in small restaurants. The COVID-19 health crisis also hurt sales, preventing foreign visitors and locals from eating out.

【推荐2】Imagine a relay race. During this race, an athlete holds a stick as he runs a certain distance. Then he passes the stick to the next runner. That person runs faster, and then passes the stick to a third runner. Now imagine that the runners do not pass a stick. Instead they pass shiny silk, as well as gold, fruit, and glass. Imagine that the race does not move forward in just one direction. Instead the runners go back and forth along a road. They trade goods all along this route (路线) and at each end of it. Now imagine that the runners are businessmen. They lead caravans (商队) or lines of camels that carry things to sell. They travel on the ancient Silk Road to earn their living.

The Silk Road was a complex trade network. It passed through thousands of cities and towns. It stretched from eastern China, across central Asia and the Middle east, to the Mediterranean Sea. Businessmen traveled on the Silk Road from about 200 B.C. to about 1300 A.D.. Then sea travel began to offer new routes. Some people called the Silk Road the world’s longest highway. However, the Silk Road included many routes--not just one smooth path. The routes ran through mountains and across deserts. They passed through an area that now includes 18 countries. The Silk Road had many dangers. These dangers ranged from hot sun and deep snow to thieves and wars. Only expert traders could survive.

The Silk Road got its name from its most prized goods. People used silk as money. They could pay taxes or buy goods with it. Traders carried more than just silk, though. They had gold, silver, and glass from Europe. People in the Middle East and Asia wanted these things. Businessmen also took horses from flat, grassy areas in central Asia and brought them to China and other areas. The horses changed the way people farmed and ran their armies. Indian businessmen traded salt and rare, beautiful stones. Chinese merchants traded medicine and china. They also traded paper, which quickly replaced animal skins in the west. Businessmen carried apples from central Asia to Rome. The Chinese had learned to combine different trees to create new kinds of fruit. They taught this science to others, such as the Romans. The Romans began to grow apples for food. The Silk Road led to worldwide commerce 2,000 years before the World Wide Web.

The people along the Silk Road did not share only goods. They also shared beliefs. Monks, priests, and other faith leaders taught their religions to others. The Silk Road created pathways for knowledge, diplomacy, and religion.