2 . You couldn’t deeply experience Chengdu if you don’t prepare to do nothing. Sit on a bamboo chair, spread your feet out and let the afternoon slow away. Listen to hot water poured into tea cups. Taste melon seeds (瓜子) or boiled peanuts. And tea houses are the right places for you and should always be on your must-go list.

Sichuan is one of China’s major tea-producing regions. Chengdu was famous for its tea houses as early as the Tang dynasty. For centuries, tea houses were places for fun and tea. There, customers can enjoy storytelling, music, and especially Sichuan Opera. That is not a popular art these days, but Yuelai Teahouse beside Jinjiang Theater still arranges operas every Saturday afternoon.

You will find most of Chengdu’s traditional tea houses in parks. Heming Teahouse in Renmin Park attracts lunchtime office workers and afternoon visitors. When noise gets too much because of more visitors, move on to Shaocheng Teahouse in the same park. Visitors are older and quieter. They bring songbirds, hanging their cages in trees and have fun. However, new-style tea houses have been opened to attract the younger generation. They want to have a taste for traditional teas in a more modern style. The most famous one of them is Mi Xun Teahouse in Taikoo Li, which is right in the city’s most fashionable shopping area.

As in all tea houses, the tea comes in separate packets which can be kept warm. Maofeng green tea from Mount Emei, south of Chengdu, is the traditional favorite. Shake the leaves into your cup. Don’t let the water in your cup get too low, since any bad taste from the leaves is on the bottom. You can enjoy your tea all afternoon and order nothing else.

In Chengdu tea houses, people relax themselves by staying away from busy work and life. The capital of Sichuan is developing fast too, but has managed to keep its slower style that has been lost in many other Chinese cities.

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4 . What’s the best book to read when you travel? Of course, the books that can bring you closer to the places you visit. By reading the books, those places will become more attractive when they are in front of you! Here are the books you can carry if you want to go to the following places.

5 . Comfortable to wear in both hot and cold weather, silk is as popular today as it was first made.

The method to produce silk has changed very little since it first began 5,000 years ago. It starts with small silkworms (蚕) that eat a special kind of leaves. When they are fully grown, the silkworms create a cocoon—a protective coat made of silk. For production, workers first pick these cocoons and divide them according to their quality. They are then gently boiled in hot water in order to be softened and ready for use. At the same time, the worms inside are dead. The silk is later turned into thread (丝线). Silk thread is then coloured and finally made into cloth on the machine.

Although growing and wearing silk is very popular worldwide today, it was only produced in China at first. Actually, it was so valuable that at one time only the Chinese emperor and his family were allowed to wear it. The Chinese kept the method of silk making a secret and made strict laws against taking silkworms out of China. To smuggle them would be put to death. However, a princess in the fifth century and two monks in the sixth century managed to take some silkworm eggs out of China. And this started other countries’ silk making industry.

Before this, Europeans depended on businessmen bringing silk from East Asia. They travelled across Central Asia and the Middle East. In fact, so much silk was brought to Europe on this route that it became famous as the Silk Road. By the time of the Han Dynasty, silk had become popular in Europe.

Today, China produces around 80% of the silk worldwide. Although man-made materials are cheaper and easier to make, the silk is still hard to be replaced, and there is always a large market home and abroad.

6 . In October 2023, three Mediterranean fruit flies were discovered in Leimert Park, California. This was serious news for farmers in California, a big farming state. The solution to the problem seems a little unusual: freeing millions more of the flies.

The Mediterranean fruit fly, known as the “Medfly”, is one of the most serious dangers to farmers worldwide. Once the flies make their way into an area, it can be very hard for farmers to drive them away.

The flies lay their eggs in over 300 kinds of fruits and vegetables. When the eggs hatch, they turn into worm-like larvae that can destroy these products. However, it can be hard to know that the flies are there until it’s too late.

The fruits and vegetables still look normal even after the eggs are laid inside. So the damaged fruits and vegetables can be sent to other places, allowing the Medflies to spread.

To stop the problem from spreading, the government build a large quarantine area, which means that no farm products can be moved out of that area. Luckily, California has developed a program to control Medflies. The plan includes using planes to drop millions of Medflies over the area. In fact, they only drop male flies, and all of them have been treated so that they can’t help produce new fruit flies. The males are sterile. This means that even though they can mate with female fruit flies, the eggs produced will never grow or hatch.

The plan may sound like a bad idea at first, but it can surely make Medfly numbers fall.

7 . The number of days it takes to form a new habit depends on the habit, on you, and or what methods you’re using to build and keep that habit. It may be from 21 days to 8 months or more.

Why is the range so wide? What can you do to build a habit faster?

A popular answer, “21 days, is the time within which people can build a new habit. Many people have applied the “21-day” time to all habits. However, not all behaviours are the same and some may need over three weeks.

How long it takes to establish a habit may depend on what the tip and the purpose is. Forming a habit may take between 18 and 254 days. Researchers found the average amount of time needed for a behaviour to become a habit is 66 days. They mentioned that different actions required a different level of effort too, For example, those who were asked to develop a habit of drinking a glass of water at breakfast were probably more successful than people who were asked to do 50 sit-ups each day.

How can you form a habit in a fast way?

Firstly, believing-in-yourself could be the key to developing and keeping habits. If you make up your mind to give up smoking, lose weight or drink less, believe in yourself! And you will make it.

Secondly, the way a person makes a goal more attractive can also be important. If the process of building your habit doesn’t have any reward, you are unlikely to stick to your goals.

Then, scientists also advised asking the process as easy as possible. For example, if the goal is to go to the gym three times a week, a person should pick a gym near his home.