2 . Jingdezhen is famous as China’s porcelain (瓷器) capital. It was one of thestops of a group of international youths as they visited Jiangxi Province.

The group’s visit to Jingdezhen was organised by the 2022 Global Young Leaders Dialogue (GYLD) China Tours program. The program offers young people around the world a chance to experience Chinese culture, learn about the life of the nation’s people, and appreciate China’s beautiful scenery through interesting visits and exchanges that take them all over the country.

In Jingdezhen, they visited Imperial Kiln (御窑) Museum. “Before I came to the Imperial Kiln Museum, I had no idea it would take such a complicated (复杂的) process to restore (修复) a piece of porcelain left over from ancient times,” American TV host Steven Weathers said. “Even with the help of high technology, it is hard to imagine how many modern means have played a part in the process of cultural relic protection,” he added.

Daria Lisaia, a researcher from Vanke Urban Research in Shenzhen, shared Weathers’ opinion. Some porcelain musical instruments have been produced with these imperial kilns from ancient days and traditional tools for making porcelain, so we can “hear the music” from hundreds of years ago, she said. “It’s like ancient culture is reborn,” she explained.

In addition to exploring the porcelain art, the group also came to Huangling Village in Wuyuan County, an ancient village around 80 km east of Jingdezhen. Huangling was once packed with run-down houses and buildings. Changes began to take place in 2009, with over 80 percent of the old houses restored. Today, many people come here to enjoy its historic scenes and natural beauty. In early autumn, large bamboo baskets filled with crops, such as chilies, pumpkins and chrysanthemum flowers, are placed in front of the local houses. Locals dry and preserve their crops for winter. Today, the longstanding practice has become a symbol of local culture and an important part of tourism.

3 . White Nights Festival

St. Petersburg, Russia (May 26 July 23)

Picture a sunny walk down the streets of one of Europe’s most beautiful and cultured cities. Stop to observe grand canals, parks architecture, and many other historical landmarks, all in the middle of the night! The White Nights Festival aims to improve cultural exchanges between Russia and the rest of the world. It was also created to improve the image of Russia and promote it as a world center for the arts.

Songkran Festival

Thailand (April 13-15)

Songkran Festival, marking the traditional Thai New Year, takes place across the country. In addition to sightseeing at local temples, people flood the streets to take part in large water fights. The throwing of water is a sign of respect and well-wishing, as believers hope to remove bad luck.

Exit Festival

Novi Sad, Serbia (July 6-9)

Exit Festival is a multi-type music festival in Novi Sad, Serbia. Hugely respected throughout Europe and across the globe, the festival has becomé a regular (常客) on “best in the world” lists. Known for its huge variety, Exit Festival welcomes global stars of rock, pop, dance, hip-hop and more to the Petrovaradin Fortress on the banks of the Danube.

Snow Star Festival

Sinakara Valley, Peru (Dates vary between May June)

Tens of thousands of pilgrims (朝圣者) crowd the Sinakara andean valley in the Cusco region with dancers in beautiful skirts performing non-stop over three days. Known as the Snow Star Festival, the gathering falls in line with the reappearance of the star cluster (星团)(Pleiades in the Southern Hemisphere, marking the abundance of the harvest season).

4 . Growing up in Georgia, Thanksgiving for me meant driving a couple hours south to my mom’s house in Augusta on Wednesday night and staying up late playing. First thing the next morning,at around 4 or 5 a.m., my mom would put the bird in the oven and roast it low and slow for eight hours, applying oil to it every 30 minutes and watching it like hawks. For this practice, for years I thought turkey was the absolute hardest thing to cook in the world.

I also thought that turkey was, on principle, meant to be dry. The thing is, roasting a great, juicy turkey isn’t as complicated(复杂的) as people make it out to be. For me, I’ve found that the best method is to just roast it like a chicken. No black magic.

Defrost your turkey (if it’s frozen). Ideally you’d let this happen gradually in a 40°F refrigerator. Bring your turkey to room temperature. A fridge-cold bird will not cook as evenly as a room-temperature bird. Truss(捆绑) your turkey, which will ensure even cooking. Season your turkey in the sink. This is very important. Most people season their turkeys straight in its roasting pan, leading to extra salt at the bottom. Another issue is that if you’re applying melted(融化的) butter and some of that drips off into the pan, the milk fats can burn, and the one thing we don’t want on Thanksgiving Day is for the smoke alarm to go off. Roast your turkey. Many recipes(食谱) call for a high start and a low finish. But I like to roast my turkey from start to finish at a moderate 350°F. Rest your turkey. Do not carve the bird until it’s rested for at least 30 minutes. Don’t worry, it’ll still be hot—better yet, the juices will have spread all over and you’ll be looking at the tenderest, juiciest turkey of your life.

5 . Bactrian camels (骆驼) in the Gobi usually give birth to a baby camel every second year. But because of the terrible weather conditions, it is common for a mother or baby to die during or after delivery. The result is often lonely babies and sad mothers who need one another.

After centuries in the desert, the locals have developed a unique musical practice (惯例) when they want a mother camel to accept a newborn baby camel. When the practice starts, a musician plays his instrument, usually a Mongolian flute. The mother and baby are tied together, and another musician begins to sing: “khuus, khuus, khuus.”

At first, the mother either pays no attention to the baby or treats it badly. The “coaxer (劝诱者),” at this point，changes the music based on the behavior. The singer begins to copy the sound of the camel’s walking, running and voices. After many hours of this, the mother and baby are in tears, and are joined for life.

However, each year fewer and fewer young peopel are willing to learn and pass on this tradition. In addition, more and more Mongolian families are sending daughters away to study and live in cities, and those who leave almost never return. The young men who remain in the desert struggle then to find wives and raise families that can help raise camels and keep the traditions alive. On top of that, many have discovered that motorbikes are cheaper than camels. All of this are killing the traditional way of life.

A few Mongolians have turned to the United Nations to help save this practice. In 2015, they added it to their “List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding,” but it’s hard to know what influence this can have beyond recognizing the existence of the practice.

6 . BEST CULTURAL FESTIVALS IN THE WORLD

If you’re planning on hitting a cultural festival this year, make sure you check out the background information about some of them.

Burning Man started in 1986, when Larry Harvey and Jerry James built a 8-foot-tall wooden figure and dragged it to San Francisco’s Baker Beach. They lit it on fire and thus one of the world’s strangest, wildest parties was born. It takes place from the last Sunday in August to Labor Day, with an emphasis on freedom, creativity, and self-expression.

Arguably the biggest festival in the world, Brazil’s Carnival is widely considered “the greatest show on Earth”. The event takes place in February or March, attracting nearly 5 million people who’re baking in the heat each year. There are annual samba competitions for the celebration, and the carnival parades are usually the stuff of legend.

Located in Northeast China, Harbin receives some seriously cold winter winds blowing over from Siberia. So why would any healthy person want to visit for this month-long Chinese festival, which officially starts on January 5. Because it’s home to the largest ice sculptures in the world, and the celebration takes over the entire city. Activities in the area during the festival include touring ice lantern exhibitions and swimming in the river’s cold waters.

The rest of the world could learn a thing or two from the Netherlands about properly celebrating the national governor’s birthday. King’s Day is now officially celebrated on April 27 and includes an official government ceremony followed by sporting competitions and family-friendly celebrations. The great climate also makes for ideal conditions for a country-wide flea market you have to see to believe.

7 . Here are some of the world’s most unusual events.

World Ice Golf Championship, Greenland

For more than 10 years the World Ice Golf Championship has been seen as the most extreme golf competition in the world. In 1997, architect Rolf Henning-Jensen was asked to design the world’s first ice golf course among huge iceberg and heavy snows of Uummannaq, a small town on the west coast of Greenland-600 km north of the Arctic Circle. There golfers face extreme temperatures as their first task to deal with. Then it will take players time and patience to accommodate themselves to white “green” and orange balls to play with. Determined by weather conditions, this event is scheduled for March each year in Greenland.

Balloon Fiesta, the United States

Have you ever been taken to the sky in a hot air balloon? The yearly Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta gives you the chance to enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the city and countryside. Since 1972, perfect October weather, blue skies and wind known as the “Albuquerque box” have worked together to allow balloonists to control their way thanks to the direction of blowing winds. This is the only place in the world to enjoy balloons flying in the blue skies each October.

El Colacho, Spain

The world’s most dangerous festival takes place every year in a small Spanish village Castillo de Murcia near Burgous. El Colacho means the devil’s jump and in fact this is the act of baby-jumping. Its purpose is to force a devil to leave the child’s body. Men dressed as devils jump over small babies to guard them against illness and bad spirits. Many consider the festival to be dangerous as “jumping devils” could hurt babies. But locals believe the action protects their babies from bad things and organize the jump in the streets, so people can watch or even join.

10 . World First Aid Day is a global observance that is held every year on the second Saturday in September to make people learn about how first aid can save lives. It was introduced in the year 2000 by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and has been celebrated each year ever since. Around 100 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies organize ceremonies and events on this day every year. The theme this year is “First Response to Road Crashes” to focus on the importance of giving first aid to save the lives of people involved in road traffic accidents.

Worldwide, about 2 million people are killed and 50 million are injured in road crashes each year; road accidents are the primary reason for death among young people aged 15 to 29, given that 49% of deaths are pedestrians (行人). For motorcyclists, wearing a motorcycle helmet can reduce the risk of death in the event of a crash (by up to 40% ) and the chance of a serious injury (by up to 70% ). Seat belts reduce the risk of death by 45% to 50% for front-seat passengers and up to 75% for rear-seat passengers. Lack of oxygen (or hypoxia) is one of the most common causes of death among traffic accident victims. Road accidents right now rank as the 9th leading cause of death and are expected to climb up to the 7th position by 2030.

To respond to the theme of “First Response to Road Crashes”, the IFRC has a toolkit (软件包) on their website that consists of an interactive quiz, posters, and learning material on first aid in response to a road crash. The learning material lists the “Top 10 Prevention / Simple Actions to help avoid a car crash” and the “Top 10 Action / First Aid actions in case of the road accident”. The interactive quiz evaluates (评估) your behaviour on the road.

It is vital that everyone follows simple rules like respecting other people and traffic regulations, fastening seat belts, wearing helmets and high-visibility protective clothing. All these can prevent road crashes. For more information please click here.