【推荐1】Sophie Chen is a 14-year-old girl from Taiwan. When she was 6 years old, she did something amazing!

She finished a 2,100-kilometre bike journey from Xi'an, the capital city of Shaanxi, to Turpan, a city in Xinjiang, with her parents. It took them two and a half months. Sophie became the youngest child in the world to have biked along the Silk Road. Chinese novel journey to the west inspired (激励) her to do so.

That is not all. Sophie wrote a book about the long journey with her father Jack Chen, a professional outdoor explorer (探险家). On April 26, the book's English version (版本) Biking the Silk Road: 6-year-old Sophie's Fantasy Tour came out in Beijing. New World Press published it.

Now Sophie studies at Ta Hwa High School. She sees the journey as a special experience in her life. She became more hardworking and learned history and geography better because of it.

On the way, she met many friendly local people and saw amazing things. She even picked grapes! "The grapes in Xinjiang were so big and sweet. I have never seen grapes like them in Taiwan." she said.

Still, it was not easy. "The biggest challenge was the bad weather and road conditions," she said. She wrote in the book. "It was terribly hot in the Gobi Desert. I almost got sunstroke (中暑) and could never have enough to drink."

Sophie has biked in other countries, such as the United States and Turkey. This summer holiday, she plans to ride a bike from Greece to Portugal in Europe.

Hi, Grandma! Here I am in Paris. Jenny and I arrived by plane the day before yesterday. Aunt Joan and Uncle Pete met us at the airport. We were tired so we relaxed at home and began our tour of the city yesterday.

Yesterday we went to the Louvre Museum. It has many world-famous works of art, such as the Mona Lisa. In the evening we had dinner in a French restaurant. The food was delicious!

This morning we took a walk. There are shops and restaurants everywhere, and I love the street markets. They sell such good fruit and vegetables. We also did some shopping. I bought a present for you. I hope you’ll like it!

At about three o’clock we took the Paris Underground to the Eiffel Tower. It is really high. There were lots of tourists, so first of all, we had to wait in line for an hour, and then we went to top. We waited till all the lights were on. It was wonderful!

Tomorrow we’re going to visit a famous palace and take a boat tour on the River Seine. I’ll write again.

Love,

Betty

【推荐1】I am Lisa. I study in Beijing International School now.     1     Do you know how we get to school?

Only six students go to school on foot, because they live near our school. Li Xiang says it usually takes him about fifteen minutes to walk to school.

    2     Some of them think it is faster (更快) to ride bikes than (比) to take buses in the morning and evening. They also think riding bikes is good for them.

    3     Most of them have to take more than one bus or subway to get to school, so they must get up early every day.

    4     Their parents drive them to school first, and then go to work.

    5     I’m one of the eighteen people.

【推荐3】Have you ever taken the train from Beijing to Shanghai or the train from Shanghai to Beijing? Then how much do you know about the Beijing-Shanghai railway?

The Beijing-Shanghai railway was completed in 1968. The line runs 1,462 kilometers between China’s two main cities and passes through five provinces and the city of Tianjin.                                     

Since opening, it has been one of the busiest lines in our country. Ten trains run on the Beijing-Shanghai railway every day. Five of them are non-stop. Now trains can travel at 250 kilometers per hour at most and the time of the travel is only 10 hours.

China has become one of the countries with high-speed train services. Trains run at the speed of 200 kilometers per hour on 6,003 kilometers of track (轨道), and on some parts, the highest speed can be 250 kilometers per hour. The 6,003 kilometers of track serves both high-speed passenger trains and low-speed cargo (货物) trains.

Railway operators (驾驶员) have to deal with the problem of the speed gap between the two kinds of trains to make sure they both run safely.

【推荐1】Overwork is one of the main reasons why so many students feel tired and stressed. There are some ways for you to learn to relax.

Such as reducing some of the jobs you do each day. So you can leave time for some relaxing and fun activities, like reading a good book, listening to a sweet music, going for a walk or taking a relaxing bath.

Secondly, get a good night’s sleep. Getting enough sleep will help you keep your body and mind in the best form. If you stay up late and need to get up early for school the next day, you may not be able to concentrate on the things you need to do.

Next exercise often and eat healthy. You’d better eat less fast food.

Another way is getting to know pleasant people. Some people are optimistic (乐观的), while others not Choose optimistic people as your friends and spend more time them. Then you’ll be as happy as them.

Next learn to keep calm when you face problems. You know that you can probably solve the problems, and it is a good way to build up your self-confidence.

Finally, have a happy attitude. Your attitude decides the way to see things. For example, is your cup half full or half empty?Learn to think more positively about the difficulties you face.

【推荐2】There is a special kind of hotel in Quebec, Canada. It has a bar, a church, a shop and a small theater. These things are not unusual. But this hotel is only open from January to March every year. Why? Because it is made of ice and snow. When the weather gets warm, the hotel melts (融化) and closes. Every winter, the hotel owners build the hotel again.

Everything in the ice hotel is made of ice and snow. All the furniture, such as the tables and chairs, is made of ice. Even the beds are made of ice! So people use special sleeping bags on the ice beds. Inside the ice hotel, the temperature is about 27°F(-3°C).

When people sleep, the sleeping bags keep them warm. In the morning, they can have a hot breakfast. After breakfast, people can enjoy winter activities. They can go skiing or ice fishing. Or they can go skating in the dining room. At the end of the day, people can relax at the bar. They can have drinks in glasses made of ice.

Many people enjoy the ice hotel every year. But they can only enjoy it for a short time before it melts again.

【推荐3】“Made in China” is having its moment now—and it’s a fashionable one.

The story of Chinese fashion began in 2011 when Feiyue and Huili, both Chinese sports shoe brands(品牌),suddenly got international attention. Their products were seen all over the world. Chinese sportswear brand Li Ning was at the New York Fashion Week in September, 2018. They showed their new designs—sweaters and jackets with Chinese characters.

Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group, said that the latest Chinese brands no longer catch customers’ eye by low price. He told CNN, “They are sure that they can go head to head with foreign brands.”

Maybe it is because China’s young people are now more confident about their own culture. They don’t show immediate interest in western culture any more.

“Today’s young people in China are crazy about Chinese cultural elements(元素).” Jin Qu，the manager of a clothing shopping website, said at a cultural festival in 2018. They like these elements printed on their clothes, even the brand picture of Laoganma in China, which was once seen as outside of fashion. But now young people are proud of these Chinese symbols.

“In fact, many stars in the West are now interested in Chinese cultural elements in fashion. Rihanna, a US singer, for example, wore a Chinese red dress to the 2015 Met Gala in New York. ”The dress was designed and made by Chinese designer Guo Pei.

“We have to move from making to creating.” Chinese-American designer Aric Chen once told The New York Times. “We want to replace the words ‘Made in China’ with ‘Designed in China’.”