3 . I was fortunate to spend every summer camping with my parents when I was a kid. By the age of 18, I’d visited every province in my home country of Canada. Even today I can still recall an impressive tour vividly.

It took us six people a long time to drive to Newfoundland from Ontario. When we arrived on the island, it poured rain every day. We just kept driving north, hoping to outrun it. We jumped on a ferry to Labrador Peninsula, crossing the Strait of Belle Isle, and moved our way up the coast of this northerly and thinly-populated region.

The scenery in Labrador is beautiful. We saw long white sand beaches along the Atlantic coast that looked inviting, but the water was cold year-round. While standing at the top of a lighthouse, my dad said, “This will be the new Caribbean once global warming hits.”

We soon discovered Battle Harbor, a historic fishing village that can only be reached by ferry. In the mid-1800s it had a population of 350 people and was considered the unofficial capital of Labrador. Now it was more like a deserted town, and I distinctly remember feeling the furthest from anything that I’ve ever felt. Multiple ferry rides and 600 miles separated me from the nearest major city of St. John’s.

If you’re curious about Newfoundland & Labrador (NL), I highly recommend a 2013 film called The Grand Seduction. It’s a delightful comedy about a small fishing village called Tickle Head that’s struggling to figure out its future.

Travelling made me get to know my country so well, which has had a tremendous influence on shaping the person I am now. I hold a solid mental picture of Canada, stretching from sea to sea, which I’ve taken with me to other parts of the world because I have great passion for it.

4 . During this tour you will discover the foundations of the modern science of medicine in two French cities: Paris and Montpellier. Besides, you will enjoy the beauty of the architecture and gardens of these two cities.

DAY 1: Welcome to Paris. There’re no planned activities until the evening. In the evening, Linda Geddes will give you a talk about the tour ahead.

DAY 2: This morning you’ll meet our expert local guide for a walking tour on the Left Bank, starting at the Musée Curie, a museum devoted to the history of radiation therapy. After lunch you’ll visit the Musée d’Histoire de la Médecine, which houses a large collection of rare surgical instruments from the 18th century onwards.

DAY 3: This morning you’ll visit the Musée des Arts et Métiers in the Marais district. It now houses a museum devoted to science and technology. You’ll also see the Musée des Moulages in the Hôpital Saint-Louis, where you’ll see a specialist hospital built for dealing with skin disease.

DAY 4: Take a train to Montpellier. You’ll check into a hotel just off the grand Place de la Comedie and the afternoon will be free to explore the city including the wonderful Musée Fabre, one of the best museums of French art in the country.

DAY 5: This morning you’ll visit the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montpellier, one of the oldest continually-operating medical schools in the world. After that you’ll continue to the Jardin des Plantes, one of the oldest gardens in the world and originally designed to produce herbs for medicinal use.

DAY 6: Return to Paris by train.

5 . China.org.cn here provides a list of some popular Chinese destinations for winter tourism in 2023 and explores how they plan to make the most of the legacy (遗产) of the Winter Games.

Shenyang started a Winter Olympics-themed travelling season from December 2021 to March 2022 and introduced 86 activities covering folk music, a traditional Chinese ice game festival, an ice sculpture exhibition (冰雕展), and ice and snow festivals.

Zhangjiakou in Hebei was the co-host city of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and hosted most of the skiing and biathlon events. The city has built nine ski facilities (设施), with over 164 kilometres of ski runs. So far, Zhangjiakou’s winter sports activities have attracted over 6 million players.

Known for its long winter season that can last up to eight months a year, Altay Prefecture in Xinjiang attracts skiers worldwide with its huge area of natural powder snow. The data shows that the ski places of Altay Prefecture received 2.45 million visits in the 2021-2022 winter season, with tourism revenue (收入) reaching 1.63 billion yuan, up 25.3% and 23.4% year on year. During the Spring Festival holiday last year, the place saw more than 6,000 skiers on a daily basis, 60% of which came from outside Xinjiang.

Snow and ice sports and winter tourism activities have been heating up in Xinjiang since Beijing 2022. The growth index (指数) of Urumqi’s winter tourism listed first in China in early 2022, according to the online tourism platform TravelGo. Xinjiang has unique ice and snow tourism resources with a snow season for nearly five months.

8 . China has seen a boom in glamping, a combination of “glamorous (迷人的)” and “camping”, since 2020.

Camping, in earlier years, was mostly for those exploring the rough outdoors. The equipment they used was more for survival than for enjoyment. The image of camping thus was a pretty tough one.

Urban explorers, in recent years, have turned their sights to camping as they grew tired of hotel-stay travel style. The views of tents in a grassland or by a river soon attracted growing public interest in camping. Facilities that allow people to get close to nature while still able to enjoy the comforts of modern luxury have given wings to glamping.

There are many glamping grounds where facilities are ready to use. People just need to buy a ticket to get in and don’t have to buy any further equipment. It is suitable for new campers who want to get some experience of spending time outdoors.

Zhang Zheming, a photographer in Beijing, got his first taste of glamping in June2019 at a campground in suburban Beijing. It was a very spacious site and campers needed to bring their own kits (装备).

Zhang and his wife brought their 4-year-old son with them. As they didn’t have any experience in picking the right equipment, they didn’t prepare the canopy (遮阳篷), a camping must to protect oneself from strong sunlight. But this didn’t affect their first experience.

“In the past, my wife and I only chose to stay at hotels while traveling,” he said. “We are very happy to have discovered glamping and it is also a new way of socializing. My son used to be a shy boy, but now he gets along quite well with other people.”

Zhang is also surprised to see how popular glamping has become. The first time he went there in 2019, only 500 people joined in. But when he went there for the second time in 2020, he saw over 5,000 people.

9 . Mammoth Cave National Park, in the state of Kentucky, is a unique and historical natural wonder. It has the world’s longest cave system. There may be another 600 miles of cave passageways that have yet to be explored. In addition, more than 200 caves that are disconnected from the larger system can be found in the park.

The underground caves were created naturally by the process of limestone (石灰岩) erosion. Rain and rivers slowly dissolve (溶解) and shape soft limestone. The system is still being shaped today. Not only are they an amazing destination to visit, but the system also provides drinking water for about 40% of the US population.

The caves’ first explorers were Native Americans, who mined (采矿) the upper levels of Mammoth Cave. Later, the sites were left in great shape and began to draw public interest.

Mammoth Cave was made into a national park thanks to strong support. Back in the 1920s, the Southern Appalachian National Park Commission was set up in 1925. After years of work, as well as building roads and public facilities, the park was completed on July 1, 1941.

The park now receives around 2 million visitors a year, with about a quarter taking a tour of the caves—everything from a cultural tour to the more adventurous tours on offer. The cave supports more than 130 wildlife species (物种). The park is also much more than just a cave; the forest around has a diverse (多种多样的) range of species. There are miles of trails open for horseback riding, with canoe trails and great fishing spots. There are also more than 1,300 flowering species in the forest, and animals like wood warblers, thrushes, and bald eagles can regularly be seen.

10 . Walled Cities Of The World

There are numerous historical walled cities across the world, whose walls date back several centuries. These walls were fortification (碉堡), a necessity throughout medieval eras for defense. They have been preserved as historical monuments and popular tourist attractions in the modern time.

York, England

The city of York is a medieval city situated in the north of England. Historically, the city was ruled by the Romans, Angles, and the Vikings before being incorporated as part of the Kingdom of England in 954. Located in the city are walls built in 71 AD which have been restored and extended with time.

Xi’an, China

The city of Xian is one of the oldest cities in China. It prospered economically as the eastern last station of the Silk Road. The existing walls were originally built in 770 BC and reconstructed in the 14th century under the Ming Dynasty. The walls are well preserved and are a major tourist attraction in the city.

Quebec City, Canada

Quebec City was a colonial (殖民地的) town which was fortified by the settling Europeans. The walls began to be built in 1608 under both British and French regimes (政权). A fort was constructed by the British as an additional defensive measure and remains undamaged to date. The city’s fortifications were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

Mexico City, Mexico

Historically, the City of Mexico gained importance as the Aztec Capital. The Spanish then drove out the Aztecs and rebuilt it as the Spanish Capital. The walls protecting the city were built in 1521. Mexico City is also home to numerous colonial-era buildings which together with the walls are major tourist attractions in the city.