1 . China Small Group Tours

◆Tour Route 1: 11 Days Private Beijing - Lhasa - Xi’an - Shanghai

Tour Highlights:

Must-see sights in China — the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Warriors

Follow us on a Buddhist pilgrimage to Tibet & appreciate the profound culture

Have a leisurely walk or an exciting bicycle ride on the time-honored City Wall of Xi’an

View the soaring city skylines and feel the pulse of modern Shanghai

From $ 2, 459 per person

◆Tour Route 2: 11 Days Private Bejing - Xi’an - Chonqing - Yangtze River Cruise - Yichang - Shanghai

Tour Highlights:

Must-see sights in China — the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Wariors

Try biking on the Ming Dynasty City Wall of Xi’ an, or tour by electric car

Enjoy the Three Gorges (三峡) scenery on Yangtze River & feel totally relaxed

From $ 1, 879 per person

◆Tour Route 3: 12 Days Private Bejing - Shanghai - Xi’an - Guilin - Yangshuo - Guilin - Hong

Kong

Tour Highlights:

Must-see sights in China — the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Warriors

Experience the Bund, classical garden, modern and old in contrast in Shanghai

Feel the lively atmosphere & explore busy markets freely in Hong Kong

Walk into a local family, learn to cook Chinese food & dine with the hosts in their home

From $ 2, 499 per person

◆Tour Route 4: 12 Days Private Bejing - Xi’an - Chengdu - Guilin - Shanghai

Tour Highlights:

Must-see sights in China — the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Warriors, Giant Pandas

Come to Chengdu, the hometown of giant pandas to visit and observe the cute creature

Cruise on the meandering Li River & admire Guilin landscape

Walk into a local Chinese family, interact & dine with the hosts in their home

From $2, 079 per person

2 . Don’t ignore the difference teenagers can make.

John Michael Thomas, Florida

When John Michael Thomas decided to honor his friend and classmate Elizabeth Buckley, who died from cancer, he remembered how much she loved peacocks(孔雀) .He wanted to build a life-sized peacock fountain in Elizabeth’s favorite park in the city in memory of his friend. He thought it could be a place for people to relax and be inspired. John Michael raised $52,000 to build the fountain.

Barrett Smith, 13, Utah

The wheels began to turn for Barrett Smith when he heard about Karma Bike Shop, a place where young people can earn free bikes by rending and performing community service.

Barrett visited Karma’s owner with his idea: he would collect and repair. used bikes and donate them to the shop.

He expected to get about 10 donated bikes. In the end, Barrett received 39.

Zachary Blohm, 15, Wisconsin

The 25-year-old playground at an elementary school near Milwaukee, Wisconsin was so small that only 70 of its 575 students could play on it at a time.

That’s when Zachary Blohm saved the day(扭转局面). He and some volunteers wanted to build a huge playground. To raise money, Zachary planned T-shirt and bake sales, sold tickets and more. He held monthly money-raising events for more than a year. Overall, he collected $130, 000— enough to finish his project.

Jack Zimmerman, 16, New Jersey

For some people, finding a meal is as simple as opening there the refrigerator. For more than 366,000 hungry kids in New Jersey, it’s not that easy.

That fact didn’t sit well with Jack Zimmerman, who organized a drive to lessen childhood hunger in his state. His goal: create 40,000 packaged meals that could be donated to those in need.

On game day, Jack and his volunteers started their work. After the final count, the team had packaged 47,124 meals—well above Jack’s goal.

3 . In your life, sometimes you may be asked to speak in front of a large group of people. Although it sounds a little scary, even those with stage fright can speak successfully to the group with adequate preparation.

Practice your speech before the big day.    1     If possible, practice the speech in front of a friend or family member to get used to saying it to real people. If you feel you must have note cards, limit the amount to about three cards. This will force you to keep your speech brief and help you keep your eyes focused on your audience.

Remember why you’ve been invited to speak. If you’re battling fear over speaking to a large group of people, keep your mind on the fact that you were selected for this important role. The speech organizers must have seen something valuable in you or your expertise.    2    

Remember that fear of public speaking is very common.    3     Most of the people in the audience would be feeling the same fear and stress that you do in your position. Knowing this may make you feel better.

    4     What you say should be tailored (专门的) to why you’re there and who you’re speaking to in order to avoid sounding general. If speaking to a charity group,mention the good work certain specific individuals have done for the cause. If speaking at a business conference, briefly state why you want to help these people.

Keep eye contact with the crowd.    5     Pick one person in each section and look at him while you’re speaking. After each important point in your speech, switch your focus to another section. When you focus only on one person at a time, the size of the crowd isn’t as frightening.

4 . Two British teachers have broken the world record for the longest journey in a tuk-tuk after pulling their failing vehicle for 43 miles. Richard Sears and Nick Gough traveled 37,500 kilometers around the world and passed through 37 countries. They did this to support grassroots education project in Africa, Asia and South America.

The pair, who set off from London, thought their expedition was over when the vehicle started to fail. When the tuk-tuk broke, they were only 70 kilometers from their destination. They decided to pull it the rest of the way. The tuk-tuk, which weighs 800 kilograms, was pulled in turns by Richard and Nick over three days. On arrival in Chepen, Peru, they discovered a mechanic who specialized in tuk-tuks and managed to fix it.

The pair were back on the road and aiming for their next goal. Along their journey they had to tackle deserts and jungles. They also survived close encounters with elephants in Uganda and Botswana and an accident in Malaysia. The greatest hardship on the tuk-tuk was the mountain ranges lying in their path, including the Alps, the Himalayas and the Andes.

Nick and Richard uncovered some inspirational projects across Africa, Asia and South America. They witnessed firsthand the educational challenges facing these areas today. They joined street children in the slums of Cairo, Khartoum, Kampala, Mumbai and Phnom Penh. They visited Congolese refugees (难民) in camps in Eastern Burundi. They witnessed how education could free sex-workers in Delhi and victims of human trafficking in Nepal.

The pair established the Tuk-Tuk Educational Trust, a U.K. registered charity.

Talking about their motivation, Richard said, “The world’s leaders have made a commitment to achieving universal primary education but in spite of this pledge (承诺), over 57 million primary-aged children worldwide are still out of school; many more are in school, though still cannot access quality learning opportunities.”

5 . My teacher held up a piece of broken glass and asked, “Who broke this window?”

Thirty boys tried to think about not only what they had done, but also what the teacher might have found out. She seldom became angry, but she was this time.

“Oh,” I thought. I was the one who broke the window. It was caused by a naughty throw of a baseball. If I admitted guilt, I would be in a lot of trouble. How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? I didn’t even get an allowance. “My father is going to have a fit as a result of it,” I thought. I didn’t want to raise my hand, but some force much stronger than I was pulled it skyward (朝向天空). I told the truth, “I did it.” It was hard enough to say what I had done.

My teacher took down a book from one of our library shelves and I had never known my teacher to strike a student, but I feared she was going to start with me.

“I know how much you like birds,” she said as she stood looking down at my guilt-ridden face. “Here is the field guide about birds that you are constantly checking out. It is yours now. It’s time we got a new one for the school anyway. You will not be punished, but remember that I am not rewarding you for your misdeed (恶行), but I am rewarding you for your truthfulness.”

I couldn’t believe it! I wasn’t being punished and I was getting my own bird field guide — the very one that I had been saving up money to buy.

The lesson my teacher taught me stays with me every day, and it will echo forever.

6 . The latest in cat research reveals that the lovely animal seems to have a basic grasp on both the laws of physics and the ins and outs of cause and effect.

According to a newly published study, cats seem to be able to predict the location of hiding prey (猎物) using both their ears and an inborn (天生的) understanding of how the physical world works.

In a recent experiment, Japanese researchers taped 30 domestic cats reacting to a container that a team member shook. Some containers rattled (发出响声); others did not. When the container was tipped over, sometimes an object fell out and sometimes it didn’t.

It turns out that the cats were remarkably smart about what would happen when a container was tipped over. When an object did not drop out of the bottom of a rattling container, they looked at it for a longer time than they did when the container behaved as expected.

“Cats use a causal-logical understanding of noise or sounds to predict the appearance of invisible objects,” lead researcher Saho Takagi says in a press release. The researchers conclude that cats’ hunting style may have developed based on their common-sense abilities to infer where prey is, using their hearing.

Scientists have explored this idea with other lovely creatures: babies. Like cats, babies appear to engage in what’s called “preferential looking”—looking longer at things that are interesting or unusual than things they perceive as normal.

When babies’ expectations are not met in experiments like the ones performed with the cats, they react much like their animal friends. Psychologists have shown that babies apparently expect their world to obey the laws of physics and cause and effect as early as two months of age.

Does the study mean that cats will soon grasp the ins and outs of cause and effect? Maybe, Okay, so cats may not be the next physics faculty members at America’s most important research universities. But by demonstrating their common sense, they’ve shown that the divide between cats and humans may not be that great after all.

7 . Have you ever made your life look a little more attractive on social media than it actually is? If so, you may be damaging your mental health.

The posts we make on social media platforms allow us to look back and see what we did on a given day. But what happens when, in an effort to impress our online friends, photos and videos we post become beautiful versions of the things we did?

A young girl named Sophia went out to a romantic anniversary dinner with her boyfriend, had a near relationship-ending fight during dessert, then came home and posted, “Had the best time out with the love of my life!”—even with a photo of the meal. No surprise, but according to a new study, Sophia was by no means unique. Two-thirds of users admit lying about their lives on social media with 20 percent of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 stating that they edit their own stories by frequently lying about relationships and promotions.

By beautifying our online stories, we are harming our memories. We start believing the stories we tell rather than remembering what really has happened. Soon, the real experience is lost and all that remains is the beautified version of history.

Scientists fear that these edited stories will end up changing our memories. It’s well confirmed through research that our own memories are often unreliable and can be easily controlled. Writing down one’s life in the form of a journal, or even on social media can help us keep our memories undamaged, but only if we tell the truth. And recording our experiences through whatever medium, to later recall lessons we have learned, is not only acceptable but desirable. In fact, looking back on our own past—however embarrassing or uncomfortable—is not just healthy but can be enjoyable.

8 . It can be tough to pull kids away from their computers and mobile devices these days. While they’re playing games, wouldn’t it be great if they could be learning at the same time? Good educational apps offer fun challenges that teach specific grade-level skills. Here are four that combine fun and learning.

Understanding Math($3.99; iOS)

Understanding Math goes beyond basic comprehension to gain a deeper understanding of the whys and hows of math. The app tracks your child’s progress to determine strengths and weaknesses in different skill areas, and you can customize(订制)your child’s learning experience to suit the needs.

Word Creativity Kit($2.99; iOS)

Word Creativity Kit aims not only to make creative writing fun but also build up grammar rules. The app presents a series of words from seven categories, such as space or fantasy. Kids add their own words to finish the complete thoughts that these words have inspired.

Barefoot World Atlas($4.99; iOS)

Barefoot World Atlas helps kids learn about geography and world cultures with a touch of the screen. Each region features a set of sub-topics, from wildlife and natural features to native people, landmarks, and architecture. These facts and illustrations are delivered in photographs, sounds, and hundreds of mini videos.

My Grades & Homework($0.99; iOS)

A combination of grades and homework tracker, My Grades & Homework can help your child stay organized and on top of the progress in school. A convenient calendar and course list format and offer a glance at your child’s assignment schedule that he or she might not normally get from standard homework planners.