1 . Famous Places around the World

The best time to visit...

4 . You have lots of things you'd like to do. But sometimes it's hard to get to the finish line-just like your goal. How can you break your bad habits and develop good ones?     1     Here are a few opinions we often get from kids, followed by ideas that might help.

● I can't get away from screens.

    2     If you usually spend time lying on the sofa and watching TV programs or a video when you're bored, go somewhere else instead. Take a book to your room or your violin to the backyard. Or ask if you can help cook in the kitchen.

●     3    

Start with "showing up. " Then take one small step or do one tiny task, followed by another and another. For example, how do I practice the piano? First sit at it. Then play one note at a time.

Starting with a super-simple step often helps. Why? It's easy, quick, and gets you in action.     4    

● I have no time.

Take a look at the choices you make about how you spend time. Do those choices show what's important to you? Can you spare 10 minutes a day to work on a goal? Let's suppose you want to be singer.     5     Talk with a parent about why your goal counts. Discuss whether you can let go of something less important to free up time to achieve it.

6 . Do you still hug your parents? How do you feel when you hug them? When do you need a hug the most?

It was a cold November morning several years ago. My alarm clock had just gone off, but I was having trouble getting out of bed. My dad had died a few weeks before. I felt weighed down by sadness and depression.

Tough and strong, my dad had worked so hard all of his life to support us. He would sometimes shout at my brothers and me, but I always knew that he loved me. Still, he had been raised (养育) in a traditional way and raised us that way too. I couldn’t remember, for example, ever being hugged by him.

After my mom and grandma passed away, my dad moved into grandma’s home. I was so happy to have him close by. I would often visit him and just talk with him about life. But we still seldom touched and never hugged. Finally his own health began to rapidly fail and within a few months he left us. It was a cold morning when we had his service (追悼会), but I was too cold inside myself to feel it. I couldn’t remember when we’d had our last hug.

I sighed (叹气) and got out of my bed. I turned on the lights and walked into the hallway. I saw my son Jim walking down the hall to meet me. Suddenly, he opened his arms and gave me a heart-felt hug. And just as he did, I heard my dad’s voice deep inside of me say, “Joey, this hug is from me!” I cried and smiled at the same time. In that moment, in the place where heart, mind, and spirit all meet, I felt loved. I felt loved by my dad. I felt loved by life.

9 . Culture Flying High

Known as the birthplace of kites, Weifang in Shandong Province has a long history of making kites.

Weifang kite-making dates back to 2,000 years ago. At first, they were often used by the army for measuring distance and communication purposes. During the Ming Dynasty(1368—1644), kites started to be popular among ordinary people as entertainment. Weifang kite-making was included in the national-level intangible cultural heritage lists(国家级非物质文化遗产名录) in 2006. Since 1984, the International Kite Festival has been held in Weifang every year.

Yang Hongwei, 56, is an inheritor(继承人) of the Weifang kite-making art, born into a kite-making family. “Every time I see the beautiful kites, my boredom and negative feelings go away,” said Yang.

Having a special connection with kites, Yang learned the art from her grandfather at the age of 16. After practicing the skills for 10 years, she started her own shop in 1992. On Yang’s kites, people can see not only common patterns like butterflies and birds, but also some paintings telling Chinese legends and history.

Though the idea was cool, the process was not easy. “It’s really hard work,” Yang added, “but when I explain the stories on the kites to foreign customers, I feel a sense of great achievement.”

In her space time, she also travels to different countries including Germany, Australia, the US and New Zealand to tell people about Chinese stories seen on kites and the traditional ways of making kites. “I’m an inheritor of the culture. It is also an important job of mine to spread the heritage around the world and onto the next generation,” she said.