1 . 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)

2 . Discover Nature Schools Programs

Becoming Bears(Kindergarten－2 grade)

By becoming baby bears, children learn from their “parent” to survive the seasons. Kids will find safety in the spring and learn kinds of food bears eat during the summer, and then create a cave for winter hibernation(冬眠)．After learning the skills needed to survive, students will go out of the cave as an independent black bear able to care for themselves.(1.5－2 hours)

Whose Clues?(3－5 grade)

Kids will discover how plants and animals use their special structures to survive. Through outdoor study of plants and animals, kids will recognize their special structures and learn how they enable species to eat, avoid their enemies and survive. Using what they have learned, kids will choose one species and tell how they survive in their living places.(3－4 hours)

Winged Wonders(3－5 grade)

Birds add color and sound to our world and play an important ecological role. Students will learn the basics of birds, understand the role birds play in food chains and go bird­watching using field guides and telescopes. Students will do hands­on activities. Students will use tools to build bird feeders, allowing them to attract birds at home.(3－4 hours)

Exploring Your Watershed(6－8 grade)

We all depend on clean water. Examining how our actions shape the waterways around us. Go on a hike to see first­hand some of the challenging water quality problems in a city. Students will test the water quality to determine the health of an ecosystem.

·Each program is taught for a class with at least 10 students.

·All programs include plenty of time outdoors. So please prepare proper clothing, sunscreen and insect killers for children.

·To take part in a program, please email dcprogramsmdc.mo.gov.

3 . Every year, tens of thousands of kids aged 3 to 13 become Junior Rangers in different national parks across America. At Yosemite alone more than 20, 000 kids take part in the Yosemite Junior Ranger Program. If you want to be a Junior Ranger, you need to learn about the natural and cultural history, and make a promise to be a national park protector.

Here Is How YOU Can Become a Junior Ranger!

Earn yourself an official Junior Ranger Badge You could become a Yosemite’s Junior, Ranger today by completing the following steps:

•Buy your Junior Ranger Handbook in the nearest Visitor Center.

•Complete the pages in the handbook.

•Pick up rubbish.

•Attend a Guided Program.

•Return your completed handbook and a bag of rubbish to the Visitor Center.

•Make your official Junior Ranger Promise at a ceremony.

•Get your official Junior Ranger Badge.

After you become a Junior Ranger, you are encouraged to share your ranger stories with your friends, teachers and families.

6 . Old and unrestored theatres are all around us and yet so unnoticed. Recently, a new photobook has unveiled their often overlooked beauty.

Proctor’s Theatre, Troy, New York

Originally opened as Proctor’s Fourth Street Theatre in 1914, it hosted famous comedians such as Jack Benny and Bob Hope. From 1929, it was successively taken over, renamed as Proctor’s Troy Theatre and switched to screening films. In the 1960s, it began playing second-run films before closing in 1977. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1979. In 2010, the theatre was repaired but is currently not being used today.

Proctor’s Theatre, Newark, New Jersey

Although available outdoors from street sellers. food was banned in theatres to display respectability. In the late 1920s, however, the operators in Proctor’s Theatre in Newark began to set up stands to improve the economic situation during the Great Depression. Popcorn and Coke would become a significant part of the theatre’s income.

Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia

The theatre was originally opened as the Philadelphia Opera House in 1908. In the 1920s, it was renamed as the Metropolitan Opera House, showing silent films in addition to hosting various opera companies. In the 1940s, it became a sports arena. In 1954, it was turned into a church. In the late 1990s, the building was purchased by Mark Hatcher. The church and the developer came to an agreement on a repair for a music venue that was completed and reopened in 2018.

RKO Keith’s Flushing Theatre, New York

Originally opened in 1928, RKO Keith’s Flushing Theatre was designed by Thomas Lamb. In 1982, it was listed on the NRHP. In 1986, the theatre was bought and closed by its new owner who planned to build a shopping centre on the site, intentionally damaging the hall. In 2019, despite the preservation efforts, the hall was knocked down to make way for a residential tower block.

You will learn some basic techniques using soft pencils.These different types of paper are provided.

Just bring yourself and a willingness to “have a go”. This is a start-up day so people who have already attended courses should not apply.

This course is designed for students who are familiar with painting in watercolours (水彩), but are having difficulty with some techniques. We will discuss choice of materials, colour mixing and other areas that maybe raised.

The day will start with a demonstration, followed by a chance to paint outdoors. After a light lunch cooked in the studio, there will be a further practice session.

You may feel you can᾿t sing or you may be a good singer who wants to develop singing skills. You will be shown how to sing correctly and how to project your voice. You may attend this course more than once and each time you will have a wonderful experience. Everyone can sing and it᾿s great fun.

Get some friends, family or co-workers together for your own music course in a place of your choice, which could be your front room, basement or workplace. We send two guitar teachers to lead a oneday course for you in the style of music you prefer, such as rock, country, funk or blues.

8 . What limits you from hiking more often? If not having a suitable hiking partner is keeping you out of the woods, why not take a look at the great hiking clubs across Canada?

Membership cost: $10 for a single membership

Description: The club organises day hikes, backpacking trips, mountain biking, and cross-country skiing trips for members to gain new skills and valuable information. The trips are open to everyone and range from easy to moderate to difficult.

Membership cost: Students $40; non-UBC students $60

Description: The UBC Varsity Outdoor Club is a social group that hikes and rock climbs. Members lead trips, run skills workshops, and host presentations. Members can borrow equipment from the club. The UBC VOC has also constructed a few huts in the Coast Mountains.

Membership cost: Free

Description: The Pender Harbor Hiking Group offers a way for members to meet like-minded people and get fit. Hikes are scheduled two months in advance, so check the website regularly to find a hike that suits you! Hikes are usually one and a half to two hours long every Monday and Wednesday morning, but some full-day hikes are scheduled, depending on member interest.

Membership cost: A single membership is $25, and students pay $10. Children are free when they come with a registered family member.

Description: The Vernon Outdoors Club is an active group that enjoys hiking and cycling. Members are encouraged to share their activity ideas and interests. The group organises a Tuesday Activity each week.

9 . New apps, new you! Self-improvement is only a click away.

Quizlet

Quizlet is a portable flashcard system. You can search millions of already set-up flashcards and learning tools. They are especially good for subjects with lots of terminology or vocabulary in them such as languages, history and science. If you have a study buddy, then Quizlet can bring you together online. You can share the flashcards in the study folder and send to your friends. They can check the flashcards on their phone or computer.

Strava

Exercise apps like Strava can keep your fitness goals on track. Strava helps you record your exercise activities, set exercise goals and be part of an exercise community. Also, you can see you and your friends’ activities on Strava, which helps keep you motivated to exercise regularly. You can also give friends’ activities a “thumbs-up” or comment.

1SE

The idea behind this app is very simple: Turn films you have taken on your phone into a video compilation (合辑). In particular, it’s about filming one second every day, which is where the name 1SE comes from. You may think one second is not very long. But when combining one-second videos for each day of the year, that is 365 seconds—more than six minutes! Watching this six-minute video is like going on a memory roller coaster of your year, which helps people appreciate the little moments in everyday life. It’s quite powerful.

Trello

Here is a time management app continually rated among the top time management apps on the market, all with the goal of making you spend less time planning and more time doing. No matter how you prefer to track projects and time, Trello always allows you to easily see who is doing what at a quick look, so you’ll never drop the ball on an important project. Using a time management app is one of the easiest ways to get more of something we wish we had: Productivity.

10 . The London Eye remains temporarily closed but in line with the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown, we plan to reopen from 17th May. You can pre-book now. Further information can be found here.

What to Expect

The London Eye soars 443 feet into the sky and its views stretch 25 miles in every direction. Since opening in 2000, it has been used as a backdrop in countless films and is loved by Britons and visitors alike. This is the UK most popular visitor attraction, visited by over 3.5 million people a year.

Each London Eye capsule holds up to 25 passengers comfortably. All capsules are fully air-conditioned and rotate (旋转) on a special device designed to keep everyone upright as the wheel makes a slow but progressive rotation. The full rotation lasts 30 minutes of an ever changing view of this dynamic city.

Opening Times

■ September to May 10:00 am—8:00 pm daily

■ June 10:00 am—9:00 pm daily

■ July 10:00 am—9:30 pm daily

■ August 10:00 am—8:30 pm daily

■ Not open on Christmas Day or during maintenance period.

Ticket Prices

Adult: January to March £15.00     April to December £15.50

Child (5-15 years): January to March £7.50   April to December £7.75

Child under 5 years: free

Senior (60 plus): £12.00

Booking line

■ 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Sunday

■ Telephone: 0870 5000 600