【推荐1】According to University World News, there are around 200 million students who are affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, great minds did not let the hours go for nothing. As online education was already familiar, chances of establishing the mainstream policy of conducting classes through online increased greatly.

A huge response from all over the world is seen. Many universities and schools started conducting their classes through Ding Talk TV, CCTalk or other conferencing portals (入口). It is known that this procedure will not last if situation becomes stable again as what is now going on is only a “Better than nothing” option, but the appeal and impact of “E-Learning” will definitely remain.

Undoubtedly the online education will make a huge impact on the lifestyle and time consumption of the people as life will become even faster and more comfortable than now. Also the transportation problem of the country will be solved as students will be able to conduct the classes from home. More precisely, wastage of time will be removed completely, which would help the students to become more concentrated and hardworking. Another major problem is the accommodation problem which will be settled completely as anybody can access the classes sitting in their own home.

However this E-Learning method may result in some possible problems in future. Even for the time being, though the credit (学分) hours are counted and the students are graded on the basis of online exams, some courses and subjects should be left out for later to be conducted physically. For example, subjects which do not require practical experiments or are computer related, such as literature, history, law, computer science, mathematics, etc. are completely okay to be conducted in both the classroom and E-Learning. Whereas, chemistry, biology, agricultural science, all the medical departments, etc. or in short, whatever the course is, if that requires practical application, practice and fieldwork, shouldn’t be conducted in the virtual class.

Therefore, all the courses which require lab work or practical application, should be separated and designed as a “Lab Year” and conducted those classes physically when situation becomes normal. Even some of the theoretical courses, such as law, journalism, should have a few courses conducted later for the students’ own benefit in future. In other words, there should be a balanced way of handling the situation.

【推荐2】With a love and fascination for traditional culture, many young Chinese have begun to use their creativity to innovate (创新) using elements from China’s intangible cultural heritage.

Papercutting, the traditional Chinese art of paper design, has been adopted in many creative arts, including food and clothing. On the Chinese lifestyle-focused social media platform Xiaohongshu, a video of cookies featuring a paper-cut styled dragon pattern received over 2.6 million views and 130,000 likes. Liu Shan, a stay-at-home mother who loves Chinese papercutting, is the baker behind the cookies. Liu started designing her dragon pattern last November and spent five days making the cookies before the Spring Festival. She said she would complete all the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac (生肖) since they are so well-received.

Young craftswoman Chen Lingling created a cloak featuring Chinese paper-cut patterns. As an intangible cultural heritage enthusiast, Chen has made a variety of different clothing and headwear, with the aim of making cultural heritage part of young people’s daily lives. She chose auspicious patterns like phoenix and golden fish to deliver her Spring Festival greetings. People believe these patterns will bring good luck. Her video featuring the cloak has received around 750,000 views and earned her fans from both China and abroad, encouraging her to continue her interest in intangible cultural heritage.

According to the new report published by Xiaohongshu, users of the platform uploaded nearly one million posts with the topic “recreation” between February 9, the Chinese New Year’s Eve, and February 16. Analysts say these recreations demonstrate (表现) young people’s creativity and enthusiasm for life, and the innovations that use elements of intangible cultural heritage reflect their growing cultural confidence.

【推荐3】Sancho Pancho owner Daria has turned her apartment into a small family business operation that makes unprocessed food waste from restaurants and markets into delicious and nutritional dog treats. When she started 2 years ago in 2020, it was the first of its kind in Portugal.

She was making dog biscuits out of leftovers and sold them in Santos Collective, a weekly farmer’s market in central Lisbon. At the same time, restaurant owner and friend Édson had opened a restaurant and was challenged with using up the fish he bought. This sparked (引发) the idea of using fish wastes for making dog treats and started a new business to deal with food waste.

On average 30% to 40% of the fish that Édson buys for his restaurant cannot be used. However, they are perfect for animals. Using cooking equipment, Daria can make fish parts into mouth-watering dog snacks. “From collected materials we are making dog biscuits, dried meat, skin fish chews and even fish oil,” states Daria. “All the products are 100% natural and made by hand. From being just a hobby ‘Sancho Pancho Shop’ has become a functioning business.”

Daria collects around 20kg of fish waste every week from Peixaria Veloso and around 50kg every month from Talho Naco and Intercoelho. These businesses are thrilled (激动) as Daria can take the waste off their hands.

Sancho Pancho’s influence doesn’t just stop at their food waste collection. Customers have also been inspired to do their bit by collecting leftovers from local markets to make food for their pets. Everyone can play a role in creating a future that tends to reuse and repurpose precious resources, rather than wasting them.

Sancho Pancho has caught the attention of French supermarket chain Auchan. They have asked Sancho Pancho if their food waste can be processed to be dog treats for their stores.