1 . Tai chi is a wellness practice that combines slow, gentle movements and postures with mindfulness.     1    . As a traditional, slow-moving form of Chinese martial art, tai chi is known to increase flexibility and improve balance. Now, new research suggests it’s better than more vigorous aerobic exercises for lowering blood pressure in people with prehypertension (高血压前期) .

In the study, researchers in China randomly assigned 342 adults with prehypertension to one of two interventions. Roughly half the people participated in aerobic exercise, including jogging, climbing stairs and cycling.     2     Both groups got hourlong sessions four times a week.

After 12 months, those in the tai chi group saw bigger drops in their blood pressure than those in the aerobic exercise group. What’s more, nearly 22% of the people who practiced tai chi saw their blood pressure fall to within normal range.     3     And fewer patients in the tai chi group went on to develop high blood pressure.

    4     The practice tends to elicit (引起) more of a response from the parasympathetic nervous system (副交感神经系统) that relaxes your body after periods of stress or danger, says Rut h Taylor-Piliae, a professor at the University of Arizona’s College of Nursing.

Tai chi is appealing as a form of exercise because it is low impact and requires little space or equipment. “I think the beauty of tai chi is that you don’t have to have a special gym membership or special clohing, “ Taylor-Piliae says. “Once you learn tai chi, you can do it anytime, anyplace, anywhere.     5    ”

3 . Enter Our Short Story Competition 2024

Welcome to our Short Story Competition 2024 to show the world your storytelling talents! Note that there are some changes to last year’s competition rules. If you have any questions or concerns, ask us before submitting your story.

Please ensure that your submissions are completely new and not previously published. Your story must have uplifting elements and be limited between 250 and 300 words in length.

Please include your name, preferred email address or postal address for possible awards in the body of the email with the story attached. Don’t put your personal information anywhere in your story.

There are three categories—one for adults and two categories for schools: one for children aged 12-18 and one for children under 12.

In the adults category, the winner will receive £1, 000 and the runner-up will receive £250.

In the children aged 12-18 category, the winner will receive a £200 book voucher (代金券) or a branded tablet and a £100 book voucher, and the runner-up will receive a £100 book voucher.

In the children under 12 category, the winner will receive a £100 of book voucher or a branded tablet and a £100 book voucher, and the runner-up will receive a £50 book voucher.

Please submit your stories by June 31, 2024 either online or by posting offline.

The judge team consisting of our editors and some professional writers will pick a shortlist (入围名单) of entries, and the three best stories in each category will be posted online at on our website on August 1, 2024.

You can vote for your favourite, and the one with the most votes will win the top prize. Voting will close on November 30, 2024 and the winning entries will be published on December 31, 2024.

4 . With more and more kids picking up bats and gloves, efforts to build a “baseball ecosystem” in China continue to produce impressive results. And with Major League Baseball (MLB) a key contributor to the drive, Chinese kids are learning from the very best in the business.

“The baseball environment has changed greatly since MLB entered the Chinese market. When we first came to China in 2007, the baseball population in the country was very limited,” said Tony Qi, managing director of MLB China. “But in 2019, the active baseball population had reached over 20 million. When we first organized the youth baseball match in five Chinese cities in 2008, each city had only one age group to take part. But this year we have 20 cities, and in some cities we have competitions for five age groups.”

Around 400 teams have taken part in the MLB China Cup, a nationwide youth competition designed to encourage kids to take up baseball. During one recent season in Beijing, there were about 100 teams that wanted to take part in the MLB Cup. So, MLB, the Chinese Baseball Association and local baseball organizations are all working together for a brighter Chinese baseball future.

Audiences have also been attracted by the 2020 documentary Tough Out, which tells the lives of a group of Chinese teenagers whose lives are changed through baseball. “In the documentary, the kids build a new home in their baseball team, together with their coaches in a Beijing suburb,” said Qi. “The notion (观念) of home is very important in baseball culture. Through baseball, these kids gained home, friendship and confidence. They also gained the courage to fight against the hard situations they found themselves in. We’re planning to produce more content like this to make baseball culture popular.”

5 . At the beginning of Grade Two, I joined the cross-country running team in our school.

When I came to the first practice, I was filled with optimism. But as the distance we ran in each practice gradually increased from three to four, to six miles, I realized with surprise that no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t able to run as fast as others. In fact, I was one of the slowest on the team.

What was the point of putting myself through so much pain? After the first few weeks, I wanted to quit.

Then we had our first cross-country meet.

When we started the race, I felt the great pressure of expectations sink onto my shoulders. And after a while I stopped running and struggled to walk up the hill. But then I heard my coaches shouting my name from the top of the hill. I felt confused and embarrassed; why were they cheering for me? I was running terribly! As I tried my best to finish the race, I realized that my coaches didn’t care how fast I ran. Neither did my teammates. During the rest of the season, they were always on the sidelines of every race, cheering for me just as loudly as they’d cheered for the front runner.

From then on, I began to put my effort into supporting my teammates instead of focusing on my own performance. In that way, I celebrated my teammates’ victories as if they were my own; I felt their pain and exhaustion as if they were my own.

Cross-country running made me realize I don’t need to be the best to be successful in life. It taught me to value my relationships with people more than my relationship with my ego. It taught me to cheer for others even if I don’t know their names.

6 . Teenagers’ fitness is now a major concern，and physical exercise is very important. It reduces stress and improves fitness. Exercise makes your body strong，and helps you to keep the right body weight. Sports scientist Dr. Helen Lopez offers the following advice to teenagers：“First，you need to find out your present level of fitness. Then you can design a programme that will help you become healthier.”

Dr. Lopez suggests that there are three levels of fitness that need a change of lifestyle.“Overweight”means that the person gets very little exercise and often has a serious weight problem. “Inactive” means that the person does not join in many physical activities，but is not seriously overweight.“Active”refers to people who take part in sports and other physical activities，but do not have a high fitness level.

According to Dr. Lopez，overweight teenagers should work out to keep healthy.“Ride a bike，play volleyball or basketball for a while，and go for a twenty­minute walk each day. All these will help to burn calories.”Inactive teenagers should do similar activities, but add some bending and stretching exercises, such as push­ups and sit­ups, starting with twenty of each a day.“Inactive people can take a little more exercise than overweight people because their bodies are stronger，”Dr. Lopez said. The same rule applies to active teenagers.

Dr. Lopez suggests one hour a week or more on running and other forms of intensive exercise，together with fifteen minutes a day spent on stretching and bending activities.“These are really important in order to prevent injuries,” Dr. Lopez said. Some weight­training and other body­strengthening exercises could also be planned in the programme in order to increase the person’s strength.

8 . Fitness Magazine recently ran an article titled “Five Reasons to Thank Your Workout Partner.” One reason was: “You’ll actually show up if you know someone is waiting for you at the gym, ” while another read: “    1    ”   With a workout partner, you will increase your training effort as there is a subtle (微妙) competition.

So, how do you find a workout partner?

First of all, decide what you want from that person.     2     Or do you just want to be physically fit, able to move with strength and flexibility? Think about the exercises you would like to do with your workout partner.

You might think about posting what you are looking for on social media, but it probably won’t result in a useful response.     3     If you plan on working out in a gym, that person must belong to the same gym.

My partner posted her request on the notice board of a local park. Her notice included what kind of training she wanted to do, how many days a week and how many hours she wanted to spend on each session, and her age. It also listed her favorite sports and activities, and provided her phone number.     4    

You and your partner will probably have different skills.     5     Over time, both of you will benefit—your partner will be able to lift more weights and you will become more physically fit. The core (核心) of your relationship is that you will always be there to help each other.

9 . Last night I entered a poetry competition. It was very rushed. It was the very last minute and I was unprepared. Yet I really wanted to do it. So, without the support of my family, I got up in front of a group of people and got ready to present my poem. But I didn’t expect to win.

Judges were chosen from the audience by having a bouncy ball thrown out into their midst to see who would catch it. As it is with most competitions, performers had 2 minutes to impress the judges who would then give a score from 0.0 to 10. There were five judges. I was the youngest person in the competition. I’m only 16 and everybody else was about 20—70. My poem went really well. People liked it and I think many were impressed by my courage to get up on stage and perform my own work. In the end, I came third, but I was not disappointed. After all, it was only 0.3 points that separated me from second place.

When it was all over, I was waiting in the car park for my dad to pick me up. One of the judges came up to me and told me I had done a fantastic job. Even though many people had congratulated me, this was different. The lady judge was very sincere. She said, “Here, have the ball, so you remember tonight”. I pulled a smile card out for the woman thanking her for her words and the ball. She was impressed by the card, but no words passed between us. It was a silent understanding. Words would ruin the moment.

My father beeped from the car park so I nodded my goodbye and got in the car, holding in my hand the bouncy ball that changed me.

10 . There's a lot of good news about Chinese volleyball player Zhu Ting. She was named as the Most Valuable Volleyball Player of the China Volleyball Association for the 2019﹣2020 season. At the same time, readers can find her story in a children's book When I Grow Up—Sports Heroes. A British publishing house published the book. It's about how children become sports superstars. Those superstars include LeBron James and Lionel Messi.

Zhu Ting now plays for the Tianjin Bohai Bank Women's Volleyball Club. Last season, she helped Tianjin win its 12th top league title. She is also the captain, the 1.98-meter-tall girl found it difficult to move quickly because she was so tall. But head coach Lang Ping trained her to jump high and spike the ball, the fighting spirit of the national team has inspired, she became a great spiker.

She used to play volleyball in Turkey. When she arrived there, she couldn't speak English well and needed help. But she kept practicing English after her training. After three months, she could easily talk with her teammates in English.

What makes Zhu Ting successful? Working hard and never giving up are the key to success.