Winter solstice, as the name shows, means the coming of winter.

As an important solar term in the traditional Chinese calendar, it is also a traditional holiday for Chinese, which is also called “冬节”, “长至节”, “亚岁”, etc. Generally, winter solstice occurs between December 21st and 23rd. According to the traditional Chinese calendar, five days constitutes a pentad and three pentads constitutes a solar term. One year is divided into twelve periods and twelve climates which are regarded as twenty-four solar terms. The Winter Solstice is one of twenty-four solar terms. On this day, in the Northern Hemisphere the period of daytime is the shortest of the year and the period of night is longest. In Northern China during winter solstice there is a custom of eating dumplings.

【推荐3】There are only two seasons in some countries—the dry season and the rainy season. They are India, Vietnam and some countries in Africa. It’s never cold there and it doesn’t snow. In the dry season it is as warm as it is in the rainy season. When it is the dry season, it doesn’t rain at all. It’s very, very hot. All grass and leaves in the trees are yellow. Animals and people are very thirsty. It is a very difficult time for them! When it is the rainy season, the rain doesn’t stop: it rains day and night. There is a lot of water around! Some animals like it but some don’t.

There is a place where there are no seasons at all. It is the Antarctic (南极).

It is very cold all the year round. There are no countries and no cities there. There are some villages in the Antarctic. Who lives there? Some scientists from some countries go there to learn about the coldest place, its animals and birds. But there are no trees, no flowers, no fruit there, so people can't live there long.

【推荐1】When watching sports events, we often notice athletes wearing earphones before the competition. They keep their eyes shut, and gently nod along the beats. It seems the music is giving them power and cheering them up for the competition. But is there any science behind such practices?

According to a new research, it turns out there is. Music makes us feel powerful, but not all songs have the same effect.

The research was led by Dennis Hsu of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in the US. His team had people listen to 31 songs of different types. The listeners felt powerful after listening to some songs, for example Queen’s We Will Rock You and 2 Unlimited’s Get Ready for This.

Researchers also found that high-power music made people want to take control in social events and come first in competition.

That matters a lot in sports. “It’s commonly said that sports are 90 percent mental(心理的) and only 10 percent physical(身体的),” The Huffington Post reported.

Great athletes know this idea well. NBA player Kobe Bryant, for example, often puts on big headphones and even falls into deep thought to boost his game and reduce his anxiety(焦虑).

Why does music have magical power? Hsu’s team explained: when people hear music that expresses a sense of power, they mimic (模拟) these feelings in their mind.

When choosing music, we also need to look at the type of music, according to researchers.

In the research by the Music in Exercise and Sport Group at Brunel University in London, they found that pop was perfect for slower tasks. If you’re warming up or cooling down after exercises, pop songs are the correct choice. Dance music was found to be best suitable for strength and weight training.

In recent years, it has become popular for women to wear a traditional qipao dress. Especially during the “gaokao”, many mothers wear qipaos to wish their children good luck in the exam. The reason is that “qipao” stands for the Chinese meaning “qi kai de sheng”, which means “victory”.

The qipao has a high collar (衣领), with pankous, traditional Chinese knotted buttons, on the front. Some people believe the qipao originated (起源) from gowns (长袍) in the Qing Dynasty. Influenced by western culture, it changed continually during the early 20th century, becoming more fitted and body-hugging.

After years of development, the qipao is now mainly divided into Beijing styles, Shanghai styles and Hong Kong styles. ▲

The Beijing style qipao is more traditional than Shanghai-style and Hong Kong-style qipaos. The colors of Beijing-style qipaos are much brighter. High-quality Beijing-style qipaos are usually made by hand, so the price is much higher.

Compared with Beijing-style qipaos. Shanghai-style ones are more fashionable. More western elements (元素) are used in the designs and colors. Shanghai-style qipaos became the most popular style because of the fashionable design and slim shape. Now, Shanghai-style qipaos are still the first choice for most women, especially among younger ones.

Hong Kong-style qipaos have been influenced greatly by European fashions. They have shorter sleeves (袖子) than the other two. The decorations are simpler, too.

The qipao is a very classic product to stand for the beauty of traditional Chinese clothing. It shows not only the history of the Han people, but also the footprints of other cultures on the land.

【推荐3】When we can see well, we do not think about our eyes often. It is only when we cannot see perfectly that we come to know how important our eyes are. People who are nearsighted can see things that are very close to their eves. Many people who do a lot of close work, such as writing and reading, become nearsighted. Then they have to wear glasses in order to see distant things clearly. People who are farsighted face just the opposite problem. They can see things that are far away, but they have difficulty reading a book unless they hold it at arm's length. If they want to do much reading, they must get glasses too.

Other people do not see clearly because their eyes are not exactly the right shape. This too, can be corrected by glasses. Some people's eyes become cloudy because of cataracts(白内障). Long ago these people often became blind. Now, however, it is possible to operate on the cataracts and take them away.

When night falls, colours become fainter(黯淡) to the eves and finally disappear. After your eyes have got used to the dark, you can see better if you use the side of your eyes rather than the centres. Sometimes, after dark, you see a small thing to one side of you, which seems to disappear if you turn your head in its direction. This is because when you turn your head, you are looking at the thing too directly. Men on guard duty sometimes think they see something moving to one side of them. When they turn to look straight at it, they cannot see it any more, and they believe they were mistaken. However, this happens because the centre of the eye, which is very sensitive(敏感的) in daylight, is not as sensitive as the sides of the eye after dark.

【推荐2】The two sessions (NPC, CPPCC) (两会) are China’s key annual political gatherings. During the two sessions, our government will look back at its work over the past year and suggest new policies for the next year. Many big decisions, like making and changing laws and electing national leaders, are discussed and decided.

Usually held in March, this year’s two sessions have been postponed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. The date has been set at a time when the spread of novel coronavirus has been mostly kept under control in China. This shows that economic and social order is gradually returning to normal, Xinhua noted.

Postponing the two sessions is unusual in the country’s history. However, after considering the situation in March, the government pointed out that the most important was epidemic control and to ensure public safety, People’s Daily reported.

For this year’s sessions, issues like China’s GDP target will still be discussed, People’s Daily reported. Due to the outbreak, China’s GDP fell by 6.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020. Helping economic development will be one of the main goals of the government’s work for the rest of the year.

Public health is expected to be discussed. A large amount of public health-related laws is in the making, Xinhua reported.

China has a public health legal system that is made up of over 30 laws. But the novel coronavirus epidemic has shown some problems with these laws. They need revision and improvement.