【推荐1】Louvre

New changes have taken place in Paris in recent years. Paris used to be among Europe’s busiest cities. Traffic jams could be seen all the time. But now there is a new 2.5 kilometre-long car-free area inside the city. The Louvre (卢浮宫) attracts world tourists. People visit there not just for the art works, but also enjoy the roof of the building which is like a flying carpet. The world’s most beautiful city is now even more beautiful.

Lijiang River National Park, China

Lijiang River is in Guilin. It is well-known for its clear water, limestone (石灰岩洞) and green hills. The hills have beautiful names depending on different shapes, such as “Elephant Trunk”. These attract many Chinese poets and artists. The best way to enjoy Lijiang River is to take an 83 km boat trip from Guilin to Yangshuo in summer.

Zurich, Switzerland

What do you think Zurich is famous for? Great banks? Yes. People can find many Swiss banks and foreign banks here. But the city is of great interest to many people for another reason. Zurich hosts Europe’s largest street party each year. Its Street Parade has overtaken London’s Notting Hill Carnival. What’s hot in the city in 2014? In August, Zurich hosted the European Athletic Championships. This gave tourists a chance to see the world’s top athletes making new records.

Adelaide, Australia

Many people may know Sydney or Melbourne. They are big cities in Australia. But Adelaide wins people’s hearts with great festivals and tasty food. Adelaide Fringe Festival is the largest art festival in Australia. Every February and March, people celebrate with outdoor art works, dance performances and live music. Adelaide has many kinds of foreign foods. British fish and chips, Italian pizza and German pork can be found in most restaurants.

【推荐3】You’re in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater. You listen to their conversation:

“I can’t believe it — Lorenzo Bertolla! It is almost impossible to find. Isn’t it beautiful? And it’s a lot cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome.”

They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater. It’s nice and the price is right. You’ve never heard of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish. They must know. So, you buy it. You never realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency. They are actually paid to go from store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo Bertolla clothes.

Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating. If the person looks cool, the product seems cool, too. This is the secret of undercover marketing.

Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to use it.

Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don’t pay attention to traditional advertising. This is particularly true of the MTV generation — consumers between the age of 18 and 34. It is a golden group. They have a lot of money to spend, but they don’t trust ads.

So advertising agencies hire young actors to “perform” in bars and other places where young adults go. Some people might call this practice misleading, but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative. “Look at traditional advertising. Its effectiveness is decreasing.” It is true, because everyone knows and ad is trying to persuade you to buy something. However, you don’t know when a conversation you overhear is just a performance.