2 . 4 Best Places to Travel in 2023

2023 is the year when travel returns in a big way. To get you started, we’ve rounded up some of the best places to travel in 2023. All you need to do is pick the place that appeals to you.

Copenhagen

With its fantastic houses, clean streets and colorful architecture, Copenhagen is regarded as the most livable city on the earth. Named the World Capital of Architecture for 2023, Copenhagen will offer a series of major artistic events and programs sure to delight architects and design lovers.

Bhutan

For travelers with a sense of adventure and a love of discovery, Bhutan has always been a must-go destination. In 2023, travelers can once again explore the Trans Bhutan Trail, which runs 250 miles from east to west, offering visits to the century-old communities along the journey. The trail spans (横跨)18 major bridges and national parks and connects more than 400 historic and cultural sites.

Bordeaux

The coming years will be sporty in the historical wine region of Bordeaux in France. In 2023, the city will host the Rugby World Cup, an intense and stressful game. Beyond sports, Bordeaux is one of the favorite historical cities, with more than 350 structures that are either nationally or regionally listed as historical monuments.

Namibia

Wildlife and adventure lovers looking for a unique path in African Safari trips should head straight to Namibia in 2023 — this country in southern Africa is the perfect place to travel to reconnect with nature and escape the modern stresses of life. On the wildlife front, you may see lions along with giraffes and elephants.

The Grand Tang Mall in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, offers a fascinating experience that transports visitors back to the Tang Dynasty. Even after 10 p. m. on weekdays, the pedestrian area comes alive     1    vibrant lights and lively music. The main street    2     (line) with Tang-style pavilions, and people dressed in traditional Chinese attire (服装) can be seen     3     (leisure) strolling.     4     sets this modern recreation apart is a series of outdoor performances     5     (feature)cultural elements from the Tang Dynasty presented in a contemporary way. Onstage, acclaimed Tang Dynasty poets,     6     (play) by actors, engage visitors in conversations about ancient Chinese poetry. Within a compact area, captivating musicals and dance performances blend traditional and contemporary elements, providing an     7     (impress) cultural experience. These interactive events     8     (become) the city’s tourism highlight, attracting     9    daily average of 300, 000 tourists to the Grand Tang Mall since June.

Inspired by the glamour of the Tang Dynasty, the Grand Tang Mall continues to create new productions    10    showcase the era’s poetry and art performances. With over 20 regular programs, each lasting 10 minutes, visitors are encouraged to arrive early to secure a good view of these popular shows.

5 . A 2020 study in the journal Science concluded that marine heat waves have increased more than 20-fold as a result of climate warming. The authors found that in the first decade after satellites began recording ocean temperatures (i.e., after 1981), there were 27 large marine heat waves, with an average duration of 32 days and an average peak temperature anomaly of 8.5°F; in the 2010s, there were 172, which lasted 48 days on average with an average peak temperature almost 10°F above normal.

Much remains unclear about marine heat waves. For example, explains Nicholas Bond, research scientist at the University of Washington and Washington’s state climatologist, there is the question of why so many persist for weeks or months. “There must be something else going on that helps maintain them,” he says. He notes that one explanation is that as the ocean surface warms, it radiates heat into the atmosphere that prevents cloud cover from forming, exposing the seawater to increased sunlight and further warming.

However, enough is known about marine heat waves for scientists to be gravely concerned about their potential impacts. Of special note is the fact that those impacts can last long after the heat waves have disappeared. After three years of the Blob, the waters of the northeastern Pacific began to cool in 2016; but years later, scientists are still determining the extent to which the region’s ecosystem is likely to return fully to its pre-Blob status. Similarly, notes Scannell, who is a data scientist with Jupiter Intelligence, Inc., following the 2010-11 Western Australia event, “lots of kelp(巨藻) forests died, and it takes literally decades for those ecosystems to bounce back”.

Eric Oliver, a scientist from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, expressed his own opinion about the potential impact of the heat waves in tropical waters. “I think that’s really a tough issue,” he says. Life in the tropics, he notes, is adapted to “quite a narrow range of temperatures. So that’s where things can get really messy. We can have complete shifts in tropical systems.”

6 . If you’re traveling to South America in summer, you should have Patagonia (at the southern end of South America) high up on your list of things to do. With this list, I show you the best places to visit in Patagonia. The climate down there is pretty rough, especially in the very south - if you plan to do hiking or camping, the best time for a trip is between the end of November and the beginning of March.

1. Bariloche, Argentina

The fact that Bariloche is well connected (airport, direct bus to and from Buenos Aires) makes it the perfect starting point of a round trip through Patagonia. But more than that: the combination of mountains, lakes and green forests results in its beautiful scenery.

2. Futaleufú, Chile

Further down south and a bit harder to access is the small Chilean village Futaleufú which is located at the border to Argentina. The reason which makes it worth it: the Futaleufú River is often referred to as one of the best white water spots for rafting in the world. The landscape along the river is unique and, due to its location, still pretty much untouched.

3. Puerto Rio Tranquilo, Chile

If you want to get there quickly, you should travel through Argentina and cross over to Chile Chico as this place is also very remote. The reason to do so: the marble caves in the General Carrera lake.

4. Torres del Paine, Chile

Personally the national park Torres del Paine is my number 1 attraction in Patagonia - you should take some time and do a multi-day trek to experience as much of it as possible: glaciers, forests, impressive mountain ranges, lagoons and rivers.

Those who haven’t been to the Mu Us may not have an opportunity to do so. The desert is disappearing from    1     map as it has been turned into an oasis(绿洲)!

The Mu Us     2     (stretch) over 42,200 square km between Shaan Xi and inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, lying north of the Great Wall. In Mongolian, “Mu Us” means barren land     3     nothing can grow.

However, the area was no desert in ancient times. It used to be grazing land     4     (sufficient) supplying grass and water for sheep and cattle. Since the Tang Dynasty, it began to degrade because of excessive farming and overgrazing and     5     (year) of war.

In modern times, the Mu Us, the fourth     6     (large) desert in China, began to move southward and passed the Great Wall,     7     (attack) Yulin (Shaan Xi province). Local pastures(牧场) faced serious desertification, salinization and degradation, and the villagers had to move as the desert advanced. By the time People’s Republic of China     8     (found), Yulin had only 0.9 percent of forest cover. It became an urgent task     9     (block) the sands.

Thanks to greening, the desert is poised to disappear. The feat(丰绩) wouldn’t have been achieved     10     national anti-desertification policies and the efforts of generations of eco-warriors.

9 . The grass swung gently above a crack in the limestone (石灰岩) and Ludvik Husu realized he had found what he was searching for: a new cave in Slovenia’s dramatic Karst (喀斯特) region.

The cave enthusiast, with more than 50 years of experience, told AFP that “the conditions were perfect ... all the signs pointed to something beneath” as he felt the air current push up from below.

The 63-year-old had come across a new, 60-meter-deep limestone cave, a discovery that made the headlines this summer in a country that prides itself on its 14,000 underground caves.

The tiny Alpine nation is unusually rich in caves, which are a major tourist attraction. Perhaps the best known is the Postojna cave system, the longest in Europe, discovered by another amateur enthusiast two centuries ago. It extends for 24 kilometers and has offered up valuable finds for biologists.

Stanislav Glazar, a Postojna cave guide, told AFP that more than 150 species have been discovered in the system.

Glazar said Postojna is one of the richest caves in the world “in limestone formations.” The cave, located about 50 kilometers south of the capital Ljubljana, was also home to the world’s first cave tourist train, which began transporting visitors in 1872.

Elsewhere in the Karst region, the cave systems are of historical, cultural and even extraterrestrial interest. For instance, the UNESCO-listed Skocjan system was where the European Space Agency sent some astronauts to prepare for life in space.

“Astronauts know that the Karst world is exceptional, in a similar way to the environment in space: you don’t know what to expect at your next step,” said Skocjan Caves director Tomaz Zorman.

But for Husu, it’s the exploration that proves most rewarding. Once he knows there is something beneath, he digs around the crack to widen it and alerts fellow cavers to help gain access. He then uses ropes and a lamp to go down to what are vertical entrances in most caves. But doesn’t he feel scared to enter such unexplored depths?

“You enter a cave out of curiosity — there is no fear! Those who feel fear should stay home,” he said.