【推荐1】From a live music festival that champions Mother Nature to the sporting artistry of the HSBC Women’s World Championship, Singapore’s dynamic line-up of events in February will have you at the edge of your seat. Here are the concerts, festivals and celebrations that await you in the Lion City.

Immerse yourself in the rich culture and tradition of the Lunar New Year at the Chinatown CNY Celebrations. The seven-week long festivities include a slew of activities for the young and old alike, with nightly street shows, a festive bazaar (街市), and an international Lion Dance competition.

For two months, the streets of Chinatown will be decorated with lanterns and interesting motifs (图案), from gold coins to the mythical zodiac animals of the Chinese lunar calendar.

Date: 2 Jan - 22 Feb Venue: Chinatown

Inspired by the Lunar New Year, this enchanting floral showcase tells the mythological story of the Chinese zodiac animals. Weave your way through the Flower Dome’s elaborate topiary like sculptures, amidst more than 70 dahlia cultivars (品种) and indulge in an unforgettable visual feast. Date: 17 Jan - 23 Feb

Venue: Gardens by the Bay, Flower Dome

Animal lovers can take a walk on the wild side at this Chinese New Year-themed event, happening across the Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Bark and Night Safari.

Keeping in theme with this year’s Chinese zodiac animal, visitors can check out the gambian pouched rat, clouded rat, speckled mousebird and more.

The event will be accompanied by lion dance performances, themed mascots and a special Zoo-diac trail to reveal your fortune forecast.

Date: 25 Jan - 8 Feb

Venue: Singapore Zoo, River Safari, Jurong Bird Bark and Night Safari

Join Singaporeans as they celebrate the largest street performance and float parade in Asia. An annual celebration of Singapore’s multicultural tapestry (织锦), this year’s entertainment is themed ‘Colours in Harmony’, and will feature a mix of dazzling spectacle and dynamic performances.

Grab some street food and participate in games at the carnival along the parade route, and don’t forget to drop by NS Square for River Hongbao to marvel at the lanterns and fireworks.

Date: 31 Jan – 1 Feb Venue: F1 Pit Building

【推荐2】The coming week will be very wonderful with so many events for you to refresh your hearts.

Dark drama

An interactive, experimental drama will be staged. The show uses topical events from 2020 such as the breakout of COVID-19 and the return of Chang’e V.

7:30 pm, Jan 2-Jan 6, at Eastern Avant-garde Theatre of China. Tel: 6527-6911.

Rising stars

Young musicians who are actually students at Beijing No.101 High School will feature in a concert. The talented youngsters will play works by Beethoven and other famous composers.

7:30 pm, Dec 30 at Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie. Tel: 6605-7006.

New Years Eve Concert

The China Philharmonic Youth Chorus will present a New Year’s Eve Concert, conducted by Wu Lingfen. Piano will be played by Peter Seivewright and trumpet by Ying Cai. Some excellent programmes will be displayed.

7:30 pm, Dec 31 at Forbidden City Concert Hall. Tel: 6559-8285.

Movie Anniversary Spectacular

Chinese movie stars will display their talents to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Chinese cinema. They will sing theme songs and share their personal thoughts with the public.

7:30 pm, Jan 1, at the Great Hall of the People, west of Tian’anmen. Tel: 8589 -5049.

【推荐3】A Housewarming Party

A housewarming party is a special party to be held when someone buys or moves into a new apartment or house.The person or people who bought the apartment or house or moved are the ones who throw the party.     1       It also gives people a chance to see what the new home looks like. It is an opportunity to fill the new space with love and hopeful presents.

It is traditional to bring a gift to a housewarming party.    2       Some common items(物品) people will put on a gift registry include kitchen tools like knives and items like curtains. Even if there isn’t a registry, a good housewarming gift is something to decorate the new house with, like, a piece of art or a plant.     3       This is often appreciated since at a housewarming party there isn’t a lot of food served, usually just appetizers or sandwiches.

    4    The host or hostess of the party will, however, probably give all the guests a tour of their new home.Sometimes, because a housewarming party happens shortly after a person moves into a new home, people may be asked to help unpack boxes.This isn’t usual though.

Housewarming parties get their name from the fact that a long time ago people would actually bring firewood to a new home as a gift so that the person could keep the home warm for the winter.     5    

【推荐1】Feeling controlled by your to-do list can certainly make you unhappy, but new research suggests that more free time might not be the magic elixir (灵丹妙药) many of us dream it could be.

In a new study shown last week, researchers analyzed data from two major surveys about how Americans spend their time. Together, the surveys included more than 35,000 respondents (受访者). The researchers found that people with more free time generally had higher levels of subjective well-being—but only up to a point.

People who had up to two hours of free time a day generally reported they felt better than those who’d had less time. But people who had five or more hours of free time a day generally said they felt worse.

So finally the free-time “sweet spot” might be two to three hours per day, the findings suggest. “While too little time is bad, having more time is not always better,” said Marissa Sharif, lead author of the paper.

Of course, most people know that being too busy can cause stress. But the new study is not the first to question whether more free time will actually make people as happy as they believe it will. Part of “sweet spot” has to do with how people spend the free time. Researchers conducted several smaller online experiments. In one they asked participants to imagine having 3.5 to 7 free hours per day. They were asked to imagine spending that time doing “productive” things (like exercising) or to imagine doing “unproductive” activities (like watching TV).

Study participants believed their well-being would suffer if they had a lot of free time during the day—but only if they used it unproductively. Though that experiment was hypothetical (假设的), which is one limitation of the new research, it’s certainly in line with other research showing that being in a state of “flow” can be good for people’s mental health.

In other words, how people use their free time matters, Sharif said. Of course, what feels “productive” is up to you.