Actress Jia Ling became very popular on social media for two days in a row during the Chinese Lunar New Year. People were amazed by how she lost 50 kilograms while making her movie YOLO. This made everyone talk about living a healthy lifestyle. Many people on Weibo were discussing Jia’s weight loss journey, like “Jia’s story of losing weight” and “Jia Ling totally surprised me.” They were wondering if it’s time to start developing healthier habits, especially during the Spring Festival.

One moviegoer named Li Qiaoya, who goes to the gym to lose weight, said, “Her success is really inspiring (鼓舞人心的) and it’s worth seeing in the movie theatre.” Li also feel upset for eating too much during the Spring Festival.

However, not everyone agrees with Jia’s weight loss plan. To finish filming the movie, Jia had to gain 20 kilograms before starting to lose weight in just six months. “Not everyone can handle the challenge of losing 50 kilograms in only six months,” said Jiang Cheng, a Chinese expert from Chongqing. “It’s not just a physical challenge, but also a mental one.”

Jia used to be known for her funny laughter and emotional performances. She shared her new look after losing weight on social media, and her fans were shocked by her new jawline (下颚线) and how radiant (容光焕发的) she looked. Jia mentioned that the movie is not about boxing or losing weight, but it’s a heartwarming story about “learning to love yourself”.

3 . The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics saw the rise (升起) of new Chinese sports stars. Many post-00s athletes (运动员) showed love for their sports.

Gu Ailing won two medals (奖牌) from her first two events—one gold (金牌), one silver (银牌). The 18-year-old won the women’s freeski (自由式滑雪) big air event. She never tried this amazing jump before. She made four and a half rotations (旋转) in the air before landing backward. The teenager was so excited that she cried after the jump. “The tears were mostly of joy, because I pushed myself to the limit (极限),” she said.

Gu wants to send a message to young winter sports lovers. “Just go for it!” she said.

Su Yiming, who just turned 18, agrees with Gu. He won a gold medal for snowboarding (单板滑雪) in the men’s big air and a silver medal in the slopestyle (坡面障碍技巧). He showed a difficult trick—five full rotations in the air.

“As a snowboard lover, I don’t care much about the score. Instead I just want to make more brilliant (出色的) tricks (技巧). The happiness comes from that.” said Su.

Su said he was “too excited” when he stood on the podium (领奖台) with his childhood idols (偶像)—Canadian snowboarders Max Parrot and Mark McMorris.

“I want to say to all Chinese snowboarders that they should keep working hard and never give up, because dreams can come true,” he said after his win.

4 . Tonga is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean. On January 14th, 2022, an underwater volcano erupted near Tonga.

The volcano is located off the coast of Tonga. It first began to erupt on Friday. Even though the volcano was underwater, it sent a column of gas, ash, and stones 20 kilometers into the sky.

Saturday’s eruption was far larger. It’s believed to be the largest in over 20 years. The eruption caused a loud “sonic boom”, which could be heard even in Alaska, 10,000 kilometers away. The eruption caused a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, as well as tsunami (海啸) waves that traveled far and wide.

In Japan, Chile and Australia, people moved away from low-lying areas along the coast. The waves sunk boats in New Zealand and caused two deaths in Peru.

The event knocked out Internet services in the area. Like most island nations, Tonga gets its Internet through a cable that runs deep under the sea. The reports of injuries and deaths in Tonga related to the eruption couldn’t be known in time because of problems with communication.

In the following days, the smoke and ash from the volcano covered much of Tonga. ________ That was the biggest danger which might last for a long time.

New Zealand and Australia sent teams to Tonga to help out. Some of the teams used airplanes to get a better idea of the damage across the island nation. But at that time, the large cloud of ash high above Tonga was making it impossible to get a good picture of what was happening in the area from high in the air. The United States and the World Health Organization also sent help to Tonga.

7 . “For as long as I can remember, mom has been a middle-aged woman, but no one told me she used to be a young girl…This is a line from the film Hi, Mom, as well as the way director and star Jia Ling once felt about her own mother. Released on Feb 12, the film is the directorial debut (导演首秀) of 39-year-old comedian-turned-filmmaker Jia. It has gotten a high score of 8.1 on the movie rating website Douban. Many people said they were touched by its raw (质朴的) emotion.

The film is based on the real-life story of Jia and her mother, showing her missing and regret at failing to see her mother before she died. It reflects on how she misses her late mother Li Huanying, who encouraged Jia to pursue (追求) her artistic dreams. To make the film more appealing, Jia made it a time-travel story. She goes back to 1981 and becomes friends with her own mom, Li Huanying. She risks giving up her own life and disappearing to make sure that her mother has a better future.

The Spring Festival holiday box office (票房) seems to prefer the films “with great family love and a little hurt”, and Hi, Mom has “hit all the right notes”. The film has also been praised for its, sincere description of female (女性的) roles. In the movie, Li is more of a young girl rather than a mother. As Jia says in the movie, “She is not only my mom, but also herself…” The many women who helped make the film, including Jia herself, helped the movie’s female roles shine in ways that had nothing to do with their looks, according to Jiemian News.

8 . A dozen Chinese dishes have become popular during the Beijing 2022 Olympics, after athletes shared them on TikTok and in media interviews. Let’s take a look at some of them.

※ Red bean bun

Snowboarder Jenise Spiteri, the only athlete standing for Malta, is a big fan of Chinese food. “One morning I was too nervous to eat any food. So I put some red bean buns in my backpack. I didn’t realize that I still had one in my pocket when I did the run, so I was like ‘Oh okay! Now I can finally eat’,” she recalled.

※ Kung Pao Chicken

American snowboarder Tessa Maud has become popular in China for sharing Chinese food from the Olympic village on TikTok. Beijing 2022 proved to be a totally new and enjoyable experience for Maud. What to eat was a daily hard choice for her because everything was so good.

※ Chinese dumplings

American athlete Julia Marino, who won a silver medal in women’s snowboard slopestyle at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, told NBC News that her favorite food in the Winter Olympics village was dumplings.

“I’ve probably had like 200 dumplings since I’ve been here,” said Marino.

※ Spicy hotchpotch (麻辣烫)

Jutta Leerdam, a 23-year-old speed skating athlete from the Netherlands, posted her favorite spicy hotchpotch on social media. “This is the famous Chinese snack spicy hotchpotch, which is healthier than burgers and fries,” said Leerdam.

The Games provided global athletes with 678 dishes from all over China, allowing them to fully experience the Chinese food.

9 . Eight years ago, Chinese skater Wu Dajing introduced himself to the skating world by winning a silver medal at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games. At the year of 2018’s Pyeong Chang Olympics, Wu not only returned, but also made history.

On Feb 22th, 2018, Wu won the gold medal in the man’s short-track 500-metre race. He set a new world record with a time of 39.584 seconds. He also became the first Chinese man to take home an Olympic short-track gold medal. BBC said Wu’s win was “flawless”, because he was much faster than all of the other skaters.

“I didn’t give them a chance and I kept my speed from the start,” he told the media after the match.

But China’s short-track teams didn’t do well in general at the Games. Chinese skaters in the woman’s 500 meters, 3000-meter relay and man’s 1500 meters all failed to take home the gold. Wu was China’s biggest hope, which put a lot of pressure on him. But he proved himself with his great performance.

Wu is now known as a highly talented skater. But things were not always that way. When Wu joined the national team in 2010, he was seen as almost “nothing” compared to gifted skaters like Zhou Yang and Fan Kexin, as his coaches said at the time. Their comments made him quite upset. But as the saying goes, “Winners never quit and quitters never win”, Wu didn’t want to give up and worked as hard as he could. He practiced skating all year round. He even didn’t return to his hometown for the holidays for 10 years. “I believe in myself,” he told the media after his match at the Olympics.

10 . This year, April 5 is Tomb Sweeping Day, a day when Chinese people remember family members and friends who have passed away. And this year will also include a national mourning (哀悼) period that offers people a chance to remember those who have lost their lives in the fight against the COVID-19.

Starting at 10 a.m. people across the country will observed (遵守) three minutes of mourning. Cars, trains and ships sound their horns (喇叭) and air defense warning sirens (防空警报) will go off. National flags will lower to half-mast (下半旗) across the country. Public recreational (娱乐) activities will be canceled across China.

“I will mourn in my heart,” said community worker Deng Linghao from Wuhan. “We who are alive must stay strong.”

National mourning periods are not commonly held. Only a few such mourning periods have been held since 2000, including one for the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan.

Besides being a time to remember the dead, many people also suggested that the national mourning period is a good time to teach students about the meaning of death.

It is believed that Chinese students don’t know much about the topic, as it is a taboo (禁忌) to discuss it in Chinese culture. According to a study from People’s Daily, about 90 percent of children who were born after 2010 said their parents had never discussed death with them.

But in Western countries, kids learn about death in a natural way. In the US, for example, if one of their older relatives has died, children will attend their funeral. Kids can also learn about death after one of their family pets dies. They might even learn about it from watching movies or TV shows.

“Facing the epidemic, each one of us feels that life is vulnerable (脆弱的),” Yuan Weixing, the headmaster of Shenzhen Xin’an Middle School, told The Paper. “The key is to respect and cherish (珍惜) life and keep living with a brave and positive attitude (态度).”

. It will start at 10 a.m. and lasted for 30 minutes.

. Air defense warning sirens will go off.

. National flags will be lowered to half-mast.

. Some activities will be canceled across China.

. National mourning periods are held very often.

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