1 . A lot of people have the habit of reading on the toilet. But in some public restrooms in Shanghai, you won’t be able to do that. If you spend more than 15 minutes on the smart toilet there, a staff member will come to check on you.

According to reports, about 150 high-tech restrooms have been built in the city. Each toilet there has a sensor that can detect (发现) when a person sits on the toilet and how long he has spent sitting there. Besides, the sensor can also check the air quality inside the toilets and adjust (调节) the water level to save water. Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen are also going to use smart toilets.

“I think it’s OK with me, because I don’t think it’s a good idea to read on the toilet,” a 22-year-old young man said. However, some people aren’t very happy with the smart toilet. “This could be embarrassing for me. Since I was a little kid, I’ve always spent about half an hour on the toilet. It means a restroom worker would check on me twice. This makes me nervous,” another person surnamed Liu said.

In fact, the smart toilet is part of China’s effort to use artificial intelligence (AI) (人工智能) in different areas of life. Now technology is being used almost everywhere. More than 700 cities in China have planned or are in the process of building smart infrastructure (基础设施). Our life is becoming much smarter and easier, isn’t it?

3 . A lot of people have the habit of reading on the toilet. But in some public restrooms in Shanghai, you won't be able to do that. If you spend more than fifteen minutes on the smart toilet there, a restroom worker will come to check on you.

According to reports, about 150 high-tech restrooms have been built in the city. Each toilet there has a sensor(传感器) that can check when a person sits on the toilet and how long he has spent sitting there. Besides, the sensor can also check the air quality inside the toilet and check the water level to save water. Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are also going to use smart toilets.

"I think it's okay with me because I don't think it's a good idea to read on the toilet," a 22-year-old young man said. However, some people aren't very happy with the smart toilet." This could be embarrassing for me. Since I was a little kid, I've always spent about half an hour on the toilet. It means a restroom worker would check on me twice. This makes me nervous." another person, Mr.Liu said.

In fact, the smart toilet is part of China's effort to use artificial intelligence(AI)(人工智能) in different areas of life. Now technology is being used almost everywhere. More than 700 cities in China have planned or are in the process of building smart infrastructure(基础设施). Our life is becoming much smarter and easier, isn't it?

4 . In recent years, the development of e-books is very fast. So which books are more popular? Here is a report on the matter. The report collects the opinions of more than 3,000 people.

According to the report, more than half of them choose to read printed books. About 26.8% of them prefer reading on their mobile phones. The rest are more likely to read on computers and e-book readers.

In the survey, many young readers tend (倾向) to read e-books. They think that e-books are very convenient and can satisfy their desire ( 愿 望 ) to read whenever they want. At the same time, they don’t have to think about how to keep their books anymore. In addition, e-books reduce the cost of printing and the use of paper, so reading e-books is still a good habit for the environment.

However, plenty of people don’t agree with their opinions, especially middle-aged people. Although printed books take up more space, they are good for eyes and convenient to take notes. What’s more, the feeling of printed books in your hand can make you calm down easily when you are under too much pressure. “I have every reason to believe that printed books will never disappear,” a super fan of printed books said.

Although people have different views ( 观点 ) on e-books and printed books, all of them believe that both of them have their own advantages. The more important thing is that everyone should choose his own way of reading to make reading a habit and benefit from it.

5 . When visiting Yunnan, you’ll find 18 oddities(云南18怪) here. For example, “girls wear flowers in all seasons” and “three mosquitoes(蚊子) make up a dish.” Maybe you’ve never heard of these expressions before. Now more and more people fall in love with the delicious flower dishes in Yunnan.

The people in Yunnan have been eating flowers for a long time. After the Spring Festival, March is always the best time to eat the flowers. One popular kind of flower is Tanglihua Flowers(棠梨花), which can be picked in the mountains. The flower sellers say it is very hard to pick two kilos of these flowers each time. They have to climb up to the tall trees and pick the flowers carefully. Have you ever tried Tanglihua Flowers? They taste a little sweet!

The other kind is Jinquehua Flowers(金雀花). It is also used as helpful medicine when people don’t want to eat anything! My grandma can cook Jinquehua Flowers very well. She says it’s a traditional way of cooking Jinquehua Flowers with eggs. Delicious and healthy!

If you have a chance, try these flowers!

6 . In China, there are 24 solar terms（节气）in a year. And there are six of them in winter. They are beginning of winter, light snow, heavy snow, winter solstice（冬至）, lesser cold(小寒）and greater cold.

Beginning of winter usually falls on November 7th or 8th. After beginning of winter, most parts of the country can start to expect cold weather. On this day, after a year of hard work, people are happy to have a rest and spend time with family. The northern China celebrates beginning of winter as the “Small Spring Festival”. People usually have dumplings and mutton soup on that day.

Light snow usually falls on November 22nd or 23rd and heavy snow usually falls on December 7th or 8th. When winter solstice comes, it brings the shortest days of the year and the longest nights. Many places around the country can expect the coldest weather yet. People often start counting “nine cold periods” starting from winter solstice. Every cold period has nine days. People believe that after 81 cold days, spring will come.

Greater cold comes after lesser cold. The field is covered with snow. And all Chinese are ready to welcome the Spring Festival after it. Of course, a new round of solar terms will start.

Beijing Opera is one of the Chinese traditional drama art forms and the largest Chinese opera form. Having a history of about 200 years, it is developed from many other drama forma, mostly from the local drama "Huiban". It was especially popular in south China during the 18th century.

Theatrical (戏剧的) art forms in many other countries do not have singing, dancing and spoken parts together in one single drama. An opera singer, for example, neither dances nor speaks on stage; there are no singing or dancing parts in a modern play; in a dance drama, the dancer doesn't speak or sing. Traditional Chinese drama, including Beijing Opera, is a kind of entertainment. It includes spoken parts, singing and dancing.

Beijing Opera has spread to many other places. Mei Lanfang, one of the most famous performers of all, was the first to introduce Beijing Opera to foreigners and made highly successful tours to foreign countries.

"You will doubt and sometimes be a little bored, but you will be interested gradually. You will be strongly attracted to Beijing Opera, even if you know nothing about the drama background." This is how one traveler described his first experience in watching Beijing Opera.

Beijing Opera is China's national opera and it is full of Chinese cultural traditions. Welcome to China and enjoy Beijing Opera!

8 . Sometimes vaccines（疫苗） do not provide lifetime immunity（免疫）. Some are only effective（有效）for a limited amount of time. In such cases， shots are necessary to maintain continuous vaccine protection. These shots are given at regular time. One vaccine， the flu （流感）vaccine， must be given every year. This is because there are many kinds of the flu.

A vaccine given in one year may provide protection against certain kinds of the flu virus， but when the next year’s flu season starts， vaccination against newer or different kinds may be required. Furthermore， flu vaccines do not provide protection for a lifetime. After as little as one year， protection may be far less than enough.