【推荐1】How can we relax after busy workdays?

Walking through the city streets at weekends is now a new favourite among young people in China. It is called Citywalk. People can take a Citywalk on their own or by following a tour guide. They usually don’t go to famous shopping centres. Instead, they go to small shops or restaurants, take a close look at old buildings and know about the history and culture of the city.

Many Citywalkers love to share their routes (路线) with others, including how long the walk will take and what beautiful places they will see along the way. It is helpful to others who also want to take a Citywalk.

Nan Xi, a girl from Beijing, moved to Shanghai not long ago. One day, when she went online (在线) to find something interesting to do on weekends, she got to know about Citywalk. “I think Shanghai is a wonderful city to take a Citywalk. There are big trees along the streets and shops selling different things. It’s great for friends to walk together and take photos,” she said. She decided to have a try. She had a two-hour Citywalk tour. During the tour, the guide talked about the history of the buildings and streets along the way. “I enjoyed the trip that day. It gave me a better understanding of how Western and local cultures mix together in Shanghai. I can’t wait to take another Citywalk,” she said.

Take a Citywalk at weekends! Enjoy the beauty of your city in a new way!

【推荐2】Xi’an China

Xi’an is no doubt one of the most popular tourist attractions in China. Every year, millions of travellers visit the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shihuang, which is one of the most amazing historic sites in the world.

As one of China’s great former capitals, Xi’an grew to be the largest city in the world during the Tang Dynasty, a golden age of art and poetry. Chang’an, as it was known at the time, was the starting point of the Silk Road, which connected China to the world. It was here that Xuan Zang set out on his famous travels, which became the basis of Journey to the West. Historic sites from that time include the two Wild Goose Pagodas and the remains of the Daming Palace, which was the centre of the Tang court (朝廷).

Today, Xi’an is a modern city, at the heart of China’s Belt and Road initiative (倡议), but its long history can be seen everywhere: it is one of the few cities in the world that still have city walls. The wall, almost 14 kilometres long, was originally built for guarding against danger, but nowadays, it’s a great way to experience Xi’an: from here, you can get an amazing view of the city.

Florence Italy

Florence, one of the famous historic cities in Italy, is the birthplace of many amazing ideas and discoveries!

Florence’s history is alive with the memory of a time when art, culture and science were being reborn. In the late 13th century, the Renaissance (文艺复兴) began here before spreading to the rest of Europe. At that time, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo were some of the people living, working and studying in Florence. During this period, they along with other great minds, contributed valuable artworks and made important scientific discoveries.

Florence is filled with art, science and history museums and ancient buildings, as well as historic universities. You can visit many of these places to experience and admire the amazing work and discoveries that happened during the Renaissance period. An example is Michelangelo’s famous statue David, which he completed between 1501 and 1504. Another must-see is the University of Florence. It was started in 1321 and many famous people studied there in the Renaissance period.

In Florence today you can experience the old and the new. Historic sites are neighbours with fancy restaurants and high-end shops. While you are trying the delicious local food, you can decide which interesting places to visit next.

【推荐1】At a climate meeting, some scientists suggested giving up tree planting as a solution to climate change. To many people, this may seem shocking because they think ecosystem restoration (生态系统恢复) means planting as many trees as possible.

However, seeing ecosystem restoration as tree planting can be very dangerous because tree planting is often used as an excuse to avoid cutting carbon emissions (碳排放). In fact, if the oil and gas industry continues to increase in size, even 10 planets full of trees could not deal with the destruction that would result. At the same time, these monoculture carbon farms, where only one type of plant is grown to store carbon, are not truly the restoration of nature. They often cover landscapes with trees at the cost of the biodiversity (生物多样性) in that area or the living of the local people.

As these problems have been stressed in plenty of media articles, some environmental protection organizations, like Greenpeace, have even called for an end to all the nature-based solutions to climate change. However, nature is not the problem. Trees are not the problem. The problem is our misuse of them as a quick fix to offset carbon emissions.

To get things straight, hundreds of scientists recently joined forces to publish a related study in the journal Nature. The study shows that the recovery of natural forests has the potential (潜能) to help with most of our carbon drawdown needs in the fight against climate change. But it also shows that these climate benefits will not be achieved if we don’t cut carbon emissions. If emissions continue, then natural fires and global warming will endanger the forests that we have left.

The study also shows that the full potential of forests will not be achieved by monoculture tree plantations, which store less than half as much carbon as diverse ecosystems do. Most of the forest potential can be achieved by protecting and managing the ecosystems that we have left, allowing them to recover. The rest can be achieved by encouraging local communities to take active steps to strengthen biodiversity in areas where the ecosystem has been destroyed.

While the diverse ecosystem positively influences the climate, its benefits for local people are far more important. The real value of ecosystem restoration lies in the rich biodiversity supporting local living. By protecting nature, people get what they need for living in return. As a Zambian farmer put it, “no trees, no bees; no honey, no money”. When natural biodiversity becomes a practical choice for local people, that is when we get the long-term climate benefits of nature as a wonderful byproduct.

On Feb 25 in the Great Hall of the people in Beijing, President Xi Jinping announced China’s “complete victory” in eliminating extreme poverty(消除贫困). China had set a goal of ending poverty by the end of 2020. As the goal was reached, a grand gathering was held in Beijing to mark the nation’s poverty alleviation accomplishments(扶贫成就) and honor model poverty fighters.

China set its poverty line at an annual income of 2,300 yuan in 2010 for each person. By 2020, a person making less than 4,000 yuan a year could be described as living in poverty, according to Xinhua. Over the past eight years, the last 98.99 million people have shaken off poverty, which was one of the goals of the 13^th Five-Year Plan(2016-2020). All 832 poor counties(县) and 128,000 villages have also been removed from the poverty list.

The United Nations has set the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (《2030 年可持续发展议程》). China has met its poverty alleviation goal 10 years ahead of schedule. And according to the World Bank, China has helped end 70 percent of poverty worldwide since the late 1970s.

Ordinary people made this achievement possible. Zhang Guimei, 64, created the first free senior high school for girls in China. As the principal(校长) of the Huaping Senior High School for Girls in Lijiang, Yunnan, she helped more than 1,800 students go to college during the past 40 years. The head of a mountain village fought poverty by improving local transportation. Mao Xianglin, 62, is the head of Xiazhuang village. This increased the per capita income(人均收入) to more than 40 times what it was in the 1990s.

These model poverty fighters have worked in many different ways and contributed(做贡献) to China’s success in ending poverty. According to Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia University, US, China’s success “should inspire the world.”

“(It should) draw on China’s experience, including massive investments(大规模投资)in education, public health and advanced infrastructure(先进的基础设施),” Sachs told China Daily.