On January1st, 2024, Xu Zhuoyuan, a 17-year-old girl from Hunan, climbed Kilimanjaro, the tallest peak (山峰) in Africa. In May 2023, she even stood on top of Mount Qomolangma.

Four years ago, Xu went on a family trip to Sichuan. She climbed Mount Siguniang and loved it. That’s when she started to enjoy climbing. “I practiced a lot by climbing mountains in Yunnan and Sichuan every month. I also do exercises like running, swimming and rope skippng (跳绳) every day,” said Xu. She worked hard and trained her body to be strong for the big climb.

On Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, it’s like a desert of over 4,000 meters with big temperature changes. Xu climbed for seven days and faced rain and strong winds. Xu had to be careful about the temperature and wear the right clothes. She learned a lot during the climb. For example, she climbed with Xia Boyu, who was the first Chinese climber to reach the top of Mount Everest with a prosthetic (假肢的) leg. “Even though Xia is almost 74 years old, he kept going. Xia encouraged me.” said Xu.

Xu wants to climb the seven tallest mountains and go to the North and South Poles before she turns 18. She also wants to learn how to help climbers with knee problems like her dad.

6 . The Lanhua Volunteer Group, with nearly 500 volunteers, was founded in 2005 by Wang Lanhua, who is now 70 years old, and is named after her. “As long as people ask us for help, we are willing to make an effort in every possible way to help them.” she said.

Though the 3,000 families in the community were not closely connected to her, she said that she still cared about their unsolved problems. Wang and her teammates often helped people in need. She went to the homes of the old to help them shower, cut their nails (指甲) and wash windows. And she bought food and medicine for the elderly. Shu Hongyong and his younger brother had a hard life because of family changes. After Wang knew about their difficulties, she stuck to taking care of them, bringing them food and washing their clothes. Now Shu has opened a shop and is also an important member of the volunteer group.

Besides, her group often organizes activities from Monday to Friday, such as a flag-raising ceremony (仪式) every Monday, and a concert every Tuesday.

Many people look up to Wang who was named as a National Moral (有道德的) Model, and they want to become like her because of her selfless behavior. So far, Litong District has had 60,000 volunteers, nearly 90 percent of them being women. Wang has moved her office from her house to a 1,400-square-meter volunteer service center.

“The more volunteers there are, the fewer difficulties people will face. I will keep doing volunteer activities.” Wang said.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

7 . Beloved Fu Bao, the first giant panda born in South Korea, left South Korea for China on Wednesday. Thousands of panda lovers waited at Everland, the country’s largest theme park in Yongin, to say goodbye to the country’s top panda superstar. The panda fans kept silent when a specially-made vehicle (车辆) carrying Fu Bao passed through the crowd in order to prevent her from being surprised by any noise.

Zookeepers held a farewell (告别) event for the fans inside the theme park. And the vehicle with a message of “It’s a miracle (奇迹) to meet you. Thanks, Fu Bao” was unable to show the panda because she should spend a month in quarantine (隔离期) to prepare for her return to China.

Fu Bao has been loved by South Koreans for her lovely appearance and special attractiveness. Around 5.5 million people had visited the Panda World in the Yongin park since Fu Bao was made open to the public in January 2021. It is required that Fu Bao should return to China before reaching the age of four, according to some agreements. Kang Cheol-won, the zookeeper known as the “grandpa of Fu Bao”, went with the giant panda on her flight to China.

Fu Bao will be moved to the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve (卧龙国家级自然保护区) in Sichuan for quarantine. The base is fully prepared to welcome Fu Bao and the base will decide when to make Fu Bao meet the public based on its adaptation (适应). Judging from past experiences, the adaptation period can last from one month to eight months, or even longer.

Miss Zhang Guimei (张桂梅) used to live a happy life, but her happiness turned to sadness after her husband’s death from illness. Heart broken, she packed up and left her past behind. That was a great decision, because it has changed the future of more than 2000 girls ever since.

Later, Miss Zhang chose to move to Huaping, a quite poor countryside where so many teenage girls drop out of school early and get married in order to support their brothers and families. The girls’ bad situations made Miss Zhang half sad, half angry. She was such a loving teacher that she made up her mind to help change it. She poured all her energy and money into setting up a free high school just for girls. She believed, “When you educate a girl, you change the lives of three generations (三代人). An educated mother won’t let her daughter drop out of school.”

No one knows exactly how hard the work was. Miss Zhang started with no money, no land, no teachers, and nothing but a full heart. However, she never gave up. She even went to the streets of Kunming to ask for help. Her hard work paid off, and she opened Huaping Senior High School for Girls, the nation’s first free school for girls only. Although Miss Zhang’s life is full of illness, she still keeps rewriting lives of the mountain top girls.

Thanks to her efforts, Miss Zhang was named the 2020 National Person of the Year of China by CCTV.

There was a man named Bob, and he was a bit of a couch potato (宅男), but he had a great sense of humor and loved to make his family and friends laugh.

One day, Bob realized that he wasn’t getting any younger and he needed to start taking better care of himself. He decided to join a health club to get in shape and surprise his family and friends.

Bob arrived at the health club with a big smile on his face, ready to show everyone what he was made of. He joined as a member and took a tour of the club, and then went to the weight room. Bob walked over and tried to lift the bar (杠铃). To his surprise, he failed!

Feeling embarrassed, Bob looked around to see if anyone was watching him. Unluckily, his family and friends had all decided to come to the health club that day to cheer him on.

Bob’s wife, children, and friends were all around the weight bench, watching him try to lift the bar. His wife laughed and said, “I remember that you said you were in shape!”

Bob looked at her and replied, “I am in shape! Round is a shape, isn’t it?”

Everyone laughed out loud, and Bob’s embarrassment quickly turned into a joke. He continued to work out at the health club, but he never took himself too seriously. He knew the most important thing was to have fun and enjoy the practice of getting healthier.

In the end, Bob did get in shape, and his family and friends were proud of him, but they were even prouder of his ability to make them laugh and bring joy into their lives, even during his most embarrassing moments.