1 . Chinese Teapot Escaping from British Museum Goes Viral

Chinese state media has praised a viral video series telling the story of a jade teapot coming to life and fleeing the British Museum to make its way back home.

The set of three short videos, entitled Escape from the British Museum, shows the teapot turning into a young woman in a green dress, who then engages a London-based Chinese journalist to help her reunite with her family. It appears to have struck a chord (弦) in China after first being released by independent vloggers on Douyin. By Monday evening, it had reportedly received more than 310 million views. The plot line taps into growing Chinese criticism of the British Museum after reports last month that more than 1,500 priceless objects, including gold jewelry, semi-precious stones and glass, were missing, stolen or damaged.

In August the state media Global Times called for the return of Chinese artifacts from the museum “free of charge” in the wake of the controversy. “The huge holes in the management and security of cultural objects in the British Museum exposed by this scandal (丑闻) have led to the collapse of a long-standing and widely circulated claim that ‘foreign cultural objects are better protected in the British Museum’,” it said. It strongly supported the video series for touching on a “powerful message” about the importance of cultural heritage and reflecting “Chinese people’s desiring for the repatriation of the Chinese cultural relics.”

State broadcaster CCTV also gave the short films a glowing review saying: “We are very pleased to see Chinese young people are passionate about history and tradition... We are also looking forward to the early return of Chinese artifacts that have been displayed overseas.”

The museum scandal made headlines around the world and reawakened earlier demands by the Chinese media to restore the country’s relics. The new three-part show has triggered a wave of nationalism among viewers, with many praising the creative plot that reduced them to tears by showing how the teapot experienced the happiness of returning to China to see pandas and watch a flag-raising ceremony on Tiananmen Square.

2 . For people suffering from depression, there’s an all-natural treatment they should use — getting more exercise. It could help fight depression, even if people have a genetic risk, new research shows.

For the study, researchers collected information from nearly 8,000 people and found those with related genes were more likely to have depression over the next two years after examining them. But that was less likely for people who were more active at the study’s start, even if they had a family history of depression. Higher levels of physical activity helped protect even those with the highest genetic risk of depression.

Both high-intensity (高强度) exercise and low-intensity activities were associated with a reduced risk of depression. Adding four hours of exercise a week could lower the risk of a new episode (一段经历) of depression by 17%, according to the study. “Our findings strongly suggest that, when it comes to depression, being physically active has the potential to remove the added risk of future episodes in individuals who are genetically risky,” said lead author Karmel Choi. “On average, about 35 additional minutes of physical activity each day may help people to reduce their risk and protect against future depression episodes.”

Depression is a common mental illness globally, with more than 264 million people affected. “Depression is so ubiquitous, and that underlines the need for effective approaches that can impact as many people as possible,” Choi said. And mental health and primary care providers can use the findings to advise patients that there’s something meaningful they can do to lower their risk of depression.

A funny thing happened to Arthur when he was on the way to work one day. As he walked along Park Avenue near the First National Bank, he heard the sound of someone trying to start a car. He tried again and again but couldn’t get the car moving. Arthur turned and looked inside at the face of a young man who looked worried.

Arthur stopped and said, “It looks like you’ve got a problem.”

“I’m afraid so. I’m in a big hurry but I can’t start my car.”

“Is there something I can do to help?” Arthur asked. The young man looked at the two suitcases in the back seat and then said, “Thanks. If you’re sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble, you could help me get these suitcases into a taxi.”

“No trouble at all. I’d be glad to help.”

The young man got out and took one of the suitcases from the back seat. After placing it on the ground, he turned to get the other one. Just as Arthur picked up the first suitcase and started walking, he heard the long loud noise of an alarm.

It was from the bank. There had been a robbery (抢劫)!

Park Avenue had been quiet a moment before. Now the air was filled with the sound of the alarm and the shouts of people running from all directions. Cars stopped and the passengers joined the crowd in front of the bank. People asked each other, “What happened?” But everyone had a different answer.

Arthur still carrying the suitcase, turned to look at the bank and walked right into a young woman in front of him.

She looked at the suitcase and then at him. Arthur was surprised. “Why is she looking at me like that?” he thought. “The suitcase! She thinks I’m the bank thief!”

Arthur looked around at the crowd of people. He became frightened, and without another thought, he started to run.

As he was running, Arthur heard the young man shouting behind, “Stop! Stop!” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The taxi stopped in front of the police station. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9 . China is one of the world’s ancient civilizations and has the earliest outstanding bronze casting technology. Here we’ve created a list of 4 museums where you can gain an in-depth understanding of Chinese bronze.

Sanxingdui Museum

Address: Sanxingdui Ruin Site, 133 Xian Road, Guanghan, Deyang, Sichuan province

Hours: Comprehensive Gallery (the first exhibition hall): 8:30-18:00; Bronze Gallery (the second exhibition hall): 8:30-18:30. Last tickets sold at 17:00. Closed on the morning of Chinese New Year’s Eve

Ticket booking: 0838-5651526

General admission: Gallery ticket 80 yuan

Note: Children shorter than 1.2m (including 1.2m) can visit the gallery free of charge. The ticket must be used on the day it is sold and authorizes one visit to each gallery.

National Museum of China

Address: East side of Tian’anmen Square, Dongcheng district, Beijing

Hours: 8:30-17:00 (no entry after 16:30)

General admission: Free (passport required for entry), Closed Mondays (except for national holidays)

E-mail: webmaster@chnmuseum.cn

Shanghai Museum

Address: 201 Renmin Avenue, Huangpu district, Shanghai

Hours: 9:00-17:00 (no entry after 16:00), Closed Mondays (except for national holidays)

E-mail: webmaster@shanghai-museum.org

General admission: free (a max of 8, 000 admitted daily)

Hunan Museum

Address: 50 Dongfeng Road, Changsha, Hunan province

Hours:   9:00-17:00 (no entry after 16:00), Closed Mondays (except for national holidays) and the eve of Chinese New Year

Tel: (+86-731) 8415833, 84475933

E-mail: web@hnmuseum.com

General admission: Free (passport required for entry)

10 . Last Thursday, Michael and Linda were distributing (分发) meals to 4,000 homeless people for their wedding reception (婚宴) in the border town of Kills. The _________ had decided that instead of playing host to their friends and family with a traditional feast reception, they _________ to feed the homeless people from an earthquake-stricken area.

The idea came from Michael’s father, Ted, who _________ for a Turkish relief organization. For the past few years, the organization has handed out _________ meals to thousands of people who’ve suffered from natural disasters. He called Adam, who was _________ the organization, and suggested that the family cover part of the cost of feeding them for the day.

Then he told his son, who was surprised by the _________, but soon agreed. When he told that to Linda, she was really shocked but finally _________ because in southeastern Turkey there is a real culture of sharing with people _________. They love to share their _________, their table and everything they have. And afterwards she was quite __________ in it. So, they arrived at the __________ on Thursday to spend the day serving food and taking photographs with their grateful recipients (接受者).

On Tuesday evening, the __________ married couple were still pleased with their decision to __________ a personal celebration for one with greater good. Michael said, “A small act of __________ could make a big difference. __________, this will give the start for other wedding dinners to be held here with our brothers and sisters in need.”