【推荐1】As the Forbidden City approaches its 600th anniversary next year, a great change has been taking place, with dark and dusty corners of the palace brought back to their former glory for all to see. As recently as 2012, only 30 percent of the vast palace was open to the public. Now, 80 percent is accessible ― quickly filling with exhibition spaces, stylish restaurants and cafes, bookstores and highly profitable gift stores, as well as quiet walkways. Besides, great walls around it are now mostly open, allowing an overhead view of the grounds.

But even all that new space is not nearly enough to showcase(陈列) the treasures collected over the centuries by emperors. Now the Forbidden City can display only about 30,000 objects at a time, or 2 percent of its total.

By 2022, a new campus in the university district of Haidian, about 18 miles to the northwest, is scheduled to open to the public, a 153-acre area that will have room to show imperial carriages, carpets and regalia (礼服).

The museum staff members have also become more creative in using the space. During a visit, there was a show on how the imperial family celebrated the Chinese New Year, including reproductions of New Year’s couplets written by the Emperor Kang Xi, whose six-decade rule ended in 1722.

The new gift stores, which earned $220 million in sales in 2017, have also lifted their offerings. They once featured little more than key chains and ugly dolls; now, they have reproductions of porcelain (瓷器), textiles (织物) and even furniture.

Lisa Tan, a 38-year-old editor at a Beijing publishing house, said the new shops were attractive because they offered traditional porcelain made by government-recognized masters using traditional methods.

“It’s good that the Forbidden City is taking a lead in keeping these traditional practices alive,” Ms Tan said. “The gift store has even become fashionable in some circles.” And some of the more commercial activities are being limited, including photo studios where people can dress up like an emperor or empress.

Most visitors are still part of package tours that make people travel quickly through the central part of the palace. But taking a slower, more winding path through the Forbidden City is a better way to soak up the history and discover some of its secrets.

【推荐2】This year’s Winter Olympics were held in two areas, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou. The areas get cold in winter but get little natural snow. That meant some serious changes were needed to hold the Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympics took place on almost 100% artificial (人工的) snow and it was the first time in Olympic history.

China took water from a reservoir (水库) which helps supply Beijing’s drinking water and sent it to a nearby river. To carry the water to the mountains for making snow, the country ran miles and miles of pipes.

China hired an Italian company called TechnoAlpin to create the snow. TechnoAlpin created artificial snow at several earlier Winter Olympics. For the snow in this year’s Olympics, TechnoAlpin laid over 64 kilometers of pipe and brought in hundreds of snow-making machines. Even with all of those machines, making the snow for this year’s Games took seven weeks.

It’s useful to be able to make snow when nature doesn’t provide enough. But artificial snow isn’t the same as natural snow, which has more air and less water. An athlete used to natural snow might have to change their style on man-made snow.

Still, the machines that make artificial snow are quite advanced. They can make several different kinds of snow depending on what’s needed for each sport. For example, the snow they make for downhill skiing is different from the snow made for cross-country skiing.

In recent years, it has become more and more common to use artificial snow at winter sports events. That’s true even in places that used to have a lot of snow naturally. Some artificial snow was used in the Winter Olympics in 2010 and 2014 because of warm weather. In the 2018 Games in South Korea, nearly 90% of the snow was man-made.

As the world warms because of climate change, problems like this are expected to become far more common. Michael Mayr, who leads TechnoAlpin, says, “You couldn’t have winter sports now without man-made snow.”

【推荐3】In May 2020, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games(BOCOG) solicited(征集) medal designs worldwide. Hang Hai and his team set about preparing designs to submit to the BOCOG. Medals reflect the culture and creativity of the host country, and the team set two basic principles for their design:

First, it should continue to adopt the jade(玉) culture incorporated into the design of the Beijing 2008 medals to highlight Beijing’s status as the world’s first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games; second, it should be innovative.

“The medals of both the Beijing 2008 and 2022 Games are to honor the athletes and the Olympic spirit with traditional jade culture, ”said Hang. Jade was chosen because it has been treasured in China and symbolizes good virtue. “The difference is that the 2008 medals used the jade as a material, while the 2022 medals represent the spirit of China’s jade culture,” he added.

In the process of designing the medals, one team member, Lin Fan, conducted extensive research into China’s ancient bi. Lin finally chose a five-ring one associated with Fu Hao — a Shang Dynasty queen — as the prototype(原型) for the medals. In the final design, the opposite side of the medals has the Olympic rings engraved in the center, surrounded by five big concentric(同心的) rings. Auspicious(吉祥的) cloud patterns, as well as snowfakes and ice patterns are engraved between the circles. The cloud patterns are intended to maintain a cultural connection with the 2008 Games, while the snowflakes and ice patterns speak to the characteristics of the Winter Olympics.

The cases holding the medals are made of bamboo. “The International Olympic Committee inquired about the growth and processing of the bamboo to ensure it meets the requirements of a green Olympics and follows the concept of sustainable(可持续的) development,” Hang said.

The medals passed the quality test and were accepted by the Games’ organizing committee on January 7, 2022. The medals are officially named Tongxin and they are the result of many people’s efforts. However, the smile on the athletes’ faces as they wear them makes it all worthwhile.