1 . The baguette, a long, thin French bread, is being added to UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH,非物质文化遗产) list. UNESCO experts gathering in Morocco this week decided that the simple French bread — made only of flour, water, salt, and yeast — was worth U.N. recognition, after France’s culture ministry warned of a “continuous drop” in the number of traditional bakeries (烘焙坊), with some 400 closing every year over the past half century.

The UN cultural agency’s chief, Audrey Azoulay said, “The decision honors more than just bread; it recognizes the ‘graceful skills of bakers’ and ‘a daily ritual (仪式)’.” Azoulay added, “It is important that such baking knowledge and social practices can continue to exist in the future.”

With the bread’s new status (地位), the French government said it planned to create a baguette day, called the “Open Bake house Day”, to connect the French better with their heritage. Bakers in France seemed proud, if unsurprised. “Of course, it should be on the list because the baguette symbolizes the world. It’s universal,” said Asma Farhat, a baker at Julien’s Bakery. “If there’s no baguette, you can’t have a proper meal. In the morning you can toast it, for lunch it’s a sandwich, and then it accompanies dinner.”

Despite the decline in traditional bakery numbers, France’s 67 million people still buy baguettes at a variety of sales points, including in supermarkets. According to France’s “Bread Observatory”, the French eat 320 baguettes of one form or another every second. The problem is, observers say, that they can often be poor in quality. “It’s very easy to get bad baguette in France. It’s the traditional baguette from the traditional bakery that is in danger. It’s about quality not quantity,” said one local resident, Marine Fourchier.

3 . Imperial Bricks

Imperial bricks were made completely for imperial buildings, especially palaces, in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. They have a fine quality, and are strong and hard. They have a pure blue-green color like a mirror and produce a metal sound when knocked. Because they are very valuable, they are called the golden bricks. The craft (工艺品) has been on the national-level cultural heritage (遗产) list since 2006.

Peking Duck

Peking duck has been a famous dish from Beijing. The cooked duck is cut into pieces and eaten with green onion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce, often with pancake rolled around fillings. It was selected as a national -level cultural heritage in 2008.

Shadow Play

Shadow play (皮影) is an ancient form of storytelling that uses flat cut-out figures or shadow play between a source of light and a screen. Various sight effects can be achieved by moving both the dolls and the light source. In 2011, Chinese shadow play entered the list of Cultural Heritage by UNESCO(United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization)which is located in Paris, France.

Kunqu Opera

Kunqu Opera, one of the oldest existing forms of Chinese opera, came from Kunshan, Jiangsu province. Using emotional lines from classic poems and through sweet and beautiful singing, it made progress in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and naturally reached other parts of the country via the Grand Canal.

5 . With the approaching of New Year, more and more visitors will come to China. Don’t know where you should go? Here are some places recommended for you.

Shanghai Expo Culture Park

The Shanghai Expo Culture Park will soon open its northern section to the public, in which the major attractions include a traditional garden that is similar in design to Shanghai’s famous Yuyuan Garden and a 400-meter avenue exhibiting the history of the area, while in the southern section lies a grand theater.

Macao Tower AJ Hackett Bungee Jump (蹦极)

The Macao Tower, 338 meters tall, is the world’s 10th highest tower, with a variety of activities, such as eating and entertainment. One of the activities which enjoy good fame is the bungee jump. The AJ Hackett Macao Tower Bungee Jump is 233 meters high, making it a Guinness World Record as the highest commercial (商业的) bungee jump in the world. Raise your arms and off you go!

Harbin’s Frozen World

For those who have never been to Harbin, there is an almost endless list of things to do. At Harbin Ice — Snow World, you can not only see the world — famous ice architecture, but also have great fun! You can have hotpot at the restaurants which are made of ice, enjoying the product of both ice and fire, go down the world’s longest ice slide (滑梯) and join in the popular Ice and Snow Electronic Music Festival to welcome 2024.

The winter is cold and the night is long, so why not go to the theatre? Harbin was listed by the United Nations as a “music city” in 2010. Harbin Grand Theater is where artistic souls defrost (化霜) a little to share their love of art.

7 . Friday and Saturday were full of surprises for Chinese, as two places in China were listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. The first, a World Natural Heritage, is made up of a series of migratory bird sanctuaries (候鸟保护地) along the coast of the Yellow Sea in Yancheng, East China’s Jiangsu Province. The second, the Liangzhu Archaeological Site in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province, was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site.

China began the application process for the bird sanctuaries in 2017. It only took two years to successfully complete the process. The migratory bird sanctuaries are the central point of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway and many endangered species, especially threatened migratory birds including red-crowned cranes and flamingos, go there to hunt for food during the migration season. The birds usually take a month to finish their migration. At about 10 days into their migration, they must stop and find food in order to have the energy to continue their journey.

Compared to the short period for the World Natural Heritage’s application, the Liangzhu application was far more challenging. The application team spent six years making their dream a reality. The site in Liangzhu is evidence of the existence of an early regional state in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the late Neolithic (新石器) period in China, which helps fill in the gaps in the history of the rice-cultivating (种植) civilizations of China and East Asia more than 5000 years ago. The site was one of the 20th century’s most important archaeological discoveries in China.

With these two new additions, China now has 55 World Heritage sites, the highest number in the world. The successful application means greater responsibility and duties. Protecting these places is much more important and is our future work.

8 . Culture shock is a broad term for a series of personal difficulties that people go through in new places ant is usually most extreme for those who can not speak the language of the place they have moved to or for those who aren’t familiar with the social rules. Both of these things applied to me in China when I moved there in 2011. So, naturally I went through the full well-known stages of culture shock: the honeymoon, frustration, adjustment and acceptance.

When I arrived I was excited and optimistic but I quickly became annoyed by cultural differences, missing how things worked back home.

By the end of my first year I had totally lost my self confidence and I became a bit clumsy and sensitive person and I thought it was China that made me that way.

Then in my second year I started to pick up some language skills and I found fun activities to do in my spare time. I made great foreign and Chinese friends and later I developed an interest in Chinese history and culture. Based on the above I learned to consider myself a confident and happy foreigner.

Today I’m back in the US where I’m pursuing a PhD at university in my hometown. It’s been a little tough to readjust to the life in my home country. I suffered at first from reverse culture shock, experiencing the four stages in the opposite order.

I’d complain loudly about the little things like I could no longer shout “ fu wu yuan” to get a waiter’s attention in a restaurant. But eventually I came to realize that my home had become an entirely new place when I was away. That, by itself , was exciting.

9 . Some Strangest Festivals From Around The World

Through the years, people have found many ways to celebrate important occasions in their lives. If you’re looking for an interesting and off-the-beaten-path travel place, here are some most wonderful and unusual festivals from around the world.

Boryeong Annual Mud Festival, Boryeong rock

This festival takes place at the beach, with much mud (泥巴) resource from the sea. At this festival, people take part in a number of activities involving (涉及) mud, which not only brings back happy childhood memories but is good for the skin.

World Body-painting Festival, Pörtschach, Austria

This entire festival is not strange because of the activities that occur (发生) during it, but because of the way people look when it’s over. During this time, artists worldwide flood in and hold live body-painting activities. They are painting creative designs on willing participants (参与者).

Underwater Music Festival, Florida, America

Rather than being held at a typical concert hall, the underwater Music Festival takes place on the seabed. This special custom is unlike any others because it featured musicians playing music below water level. 100 feet deep in clear water, talented musicians wear diving (潜水) equipment, performing free concerts for sea creatures and humans alike.

Battle of the orange, Ivrea, Italy

This Italian town hosts one of the most unusual festivals. Each year in February, a battle (战斗) takes place among thousands of participants who have to throw orange at each other during a 30-minute fight. The aim is to try and knock down other participants by attacking them with oranges so that they cannot stand any longer.

10 . In recent years, traditional Chinese culture and art has gained a foothold on short video platforms and attracted a large number of young followers thanks to the explosive growth of the short video industry. Relaxing, emotional and fragmented, these video contents perfectly match the demands of the users. With the application of new technologies such as social communication and immersive experiencing, short video platforms are seeing more users, becoming a shining spot of new Internet media.

Recently, Huangmei Opera Female Consort Prince became a hit on short video platforms as a lot of young users covered the aria (咏叹调) in their own way and showed great artistic talents. The interactive platforms are expanding the charm of the traditional opera among young people.

Peking Opera was also well-received on short video platforms thanks to a series of AR effects. Users love to film clips with a set of virtual facial makeup, headwear and costumes. Statistics indicate that these effects were applied by more than 18 million users, most of whom were young people.

In addition to Chinese operas, intangible cultural heritage items, such as embroidery, paper-cutting, printing and dyeing, shadow play works, oiled paper umbrella making, and bamboo weaving are also actively promoted on short video platforms. In a word, short video platforms are becoming an important channel to display China’s intangible cultural heritage.

Short video platforms, offering a fun, popular and easy way to explore the traditional art forms, are receiving a lot of positive feedbacks from China’s young generations. The seconds, or minutes long videos have produced remarkable achievements in promoting traditional Chinese culture.