1 . After ten years of teaching at a primary school, and always dreaming about my next travel adventure, I decided to follow my heart and combine it with a career (事业).     1    

I have loved travel for as long as I could remember. My parents started travelling with me at a very young age. Our summer holidays, and a lot of our weekends, were spent travelling in our car. We made not only a lot of local trips but also some long journeys.     2     Therefore, Social Studies was always my favorite subject in school.

I was badly bitten by the travel bug in eleventh grade, when I took my first foreign trip to Paris. It was the first time I had ever been on a plane! And then I fell in love. Not a temporary preference for a new movie or a new dress.     3     The kind of love makes me truly happy.

Was I in love with Paris? Oh yes! But more so.     4     I could not get enough of it. I wanted to see as much as I could, learn as much as I could, and make the most of every minute. Travelling by bus, I even enjoyed simple scenes as they were flying past my window.

    5     I’ve tried independent trips, group tours and package holidays. While there are advantages and disadvantages to each type of travel, I have discovered my travel preferences. I tend to prefer travelling independently to places that have a mix of beautiful scenery and historic heritage. Travelling makes me happy, and I find it to be extremely satisfying on a deeper level.

Forget about “military-style travel” during which people tend to visit as many places as possible in the least amount of time. A more     1     (relax) and leisurely alternative, such as “Citywalk”, is becoming the norm (常态) among urban youngsters.

Unlike military-style travel, Citywalk is about walking around a city on foot, soaking up (感受) the atmosphere and     2     (find) unusual things that even a resident of the city might not     3     (notice) before. It can be a special event     4     people embark (开始) on a journey led by tour guides or     5     (simple) explore the streets.

Such walks generally avoid famous scenic spots and shopping centers, and take you to places where you can have real interactions     6     the local people, eat at small but authentic restaurants, and gain     7     deeper understanding of the history and culture of the city.

Citywalkers have shared     8     (they) carefully planned routes on social media platforms, generating thousands of followers. On social media platform Xiaohongshu, there are more than 270,000 posts about Citywalk, while     9     (video) about Citywalk have attracted millions of views on short video platform Douyin.

Their posts usually include how long the walk is going to take, and interesting places and eateries (小餐馆) along the way. Some posts are more like a food tour, with walkers carefully planning out routes with certain places     10     (know) for their snack offerings in mind.

During the peak summer travel season this year, many popular tourist destinations in China have experienced large crowds, making it challenging for tourists     1     (get) tickets. Given these circumstances, cultural venues in many places have     2     (recent) announced extended opening hours, allowing people to explore during the evening hours. For instance, the Shaanxi History Museum has extended the opening hours to 8:00 pm every Sunday since mid-July.

In ancient China, a tradition of night tours, entertainment and dinners thrived (繁荣). When night fell, people would participate in     3     (activity) like reciting poems, appreciating the moon’s beauty and joining in tea-fueled conversations, said Wang Bin, curator (馆长) of the Xi’an-based West Market Museum. “Children can fully involve     4     (they) in the nighttime experiences of ancient civilizations right at the original West Market site. This is     5     we integrate these cultural elements. And this approach     6     (welcome) by both parches and children ever since,” Wang said.

To meet people’s     7     (grow) demand for night travel, China has developed a night culture     8     night tourism economy in recent years, with some places winning fame for night fairs and performances. Even at 10:30 pm, subways in many cities remain busy with people. Nighttime cultural tours have changed the     9     (convention) tourism model of traveling during the day and sleeping     10     night.

5 . Viator, a trip advisor company, offers a variety of tourism programs near London. The following are some of its programs.

Thames River Sightseeing Cruise (乘船游览) with Afternoon Tea (Aug. 18)

While in London, you can add the moment of enjoying British tradition to an afternoon tea cruise. You can have a unique dining experience with family and friends on the Thames River. As you cruise from Tower Pier to Westminster, you can enjoy tea, freshly prepared cakes and sandwiches, and view London’s great landmarks, including the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the London Eye.

Lowest Price: $ 57. 7

Duration: 1. 5 hours

Kid-Friendly Private Tour (Aug. 20)

Lowest Price: $ 309. 35

Duration: 6 hours

Walking Tour (Aug. 22)

This action-packed walking tour covers London’s two most historic areas: the City of London and Westminster. See more than 30 sights, including the Tower of London, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and so on.

Lowest Price: $19. 35

Duration: 5 hours

Night Open-Top Bus Tour with Christmas Lights (Nov. 18)

You will see a different side of London on an open-top bus tour that discovers the best of the city’s Christmas lights. Sitting on the top deck gives you overall views of England’s capital, including top attractions such as Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Lowest Price: $ 30. 97

Duration: 2 hours

7 . Even our quietest corners are full of surprises. Yes, rural Britain is famous for its dazzlingly diverse national parks.

The Lake District

This is nature’s playground. From the tip of England’s tallest peak to the nation’s deepest lake, this national park is packed with super-sized scenery—and there are endless ways to get involved: wild swimming, rafting, canyoning, sailing…, not to mention some of Britain’s premier hiking trails.

The South Downs

The South Downs will take your breath away-in more ways than one. Yes, its views are magnificent, but there are also epic trails to hike, rivers to kayak, castles to conquer and wild woods to explore. And while its biodiversity is impressive, the area is also home to thriving towns and dynamic history, from the cathedral city of Winchester to the 2,000-year-old Roman villa at Bignor.

The Scottish Highlands

Located in the northern reaches of Scotland, the Highlands are about beauty and adventure. With islands for exploring, thick pine forests to wander and peaks to climb, it’s packed with picture-perfect scenery and exciting experiences. From the valleys of Loch Lomond to the heights of Ben Nevis, expect everything from folk festivals to off-roading.

Cornwall

Renowned for its glorious countryside, striking coastline and unique attractions, you’ll find an abundance of places to visit in Cornwall. From catching a performance at the open-air clifftop Minack Theatre to surfing the waves at Newquay’s Fistral Beach, Cornwall has something for everyone.

Applause (掌声) rang across Zhaxizom town last month. The air was filled     1     excitement as players sang and danced     2     (happy). The event marked the beginning of the town’s music and food festival. Zhaxizom is at an altitude of 4,200 meters at the foot of Mount Qomolangma, the world’s highest peak, which is known in English as Mount Everest.

“I planned     3     (head) straight to Mount Qomolangma Base Camp, but when I arrived in this small town, the     4     (amaze) festival caught my eye and I decided to stay for several more days to enjoy the music and food here before     5     (continue) my journey,” said one traveler Zhang, who is from Liaoning province.

Migmar Lhamo, a college student     6     lives in Zhaxizom, said, “The festival will allow people to learn about our town. It will become a new     7     (attract) for people.” Migmar Lhamo believes the festival will play     8     important role in improving the development of the local culture and tourism.

According to the county government, more activities such as live music shows, firework displays and food fairs     9     (organize) as part of future festivals to provide both locals and     10     (tourist) with an extremely impressive experience of local culture. “The music and food festival will help the growth of the local economy,” Zhu said.

9 . In the rush of day-to-day life, we don’t always have the time to slow down and move at our own speed. Even on vacation, we always try to visit, do and taste as many things as possible in a new place or many places.       

“I’ve heard countless times how tired people are when they come back from their vacation and feel like they ‘need a vacation from their vacation,’ and that’s because many times we pack so much into a very short time,” said travel blogger Esther Susag. “We want to see everything, do everything, and not waste a minute.

There is, however, another method that many experienced travelers suggest: slow travel. But what exactly is slow travel, and how do you take full advantage of this kind of trip? Below ,travel experts break it down.

As the name suggests, slow travel generally needs travelers to slow down and enjoy each moment, rather than rushing to check off the list items. “Slow travel may mean different things to different travelers, but I define (定义) it as staying in one place for longer and going deeper into the local culture,” said Paul Jacobs, general manager and vice president of Kayak North America. “It’s taking the time to make real connections with locals instead of packing a schedule full of tours.”            

For travel expert and author La Carmina, slow travel allows people to stop and smell the roses-quite directly. “It’s about being fully present in the moment and experiencing the sights, sounds and sensations (感觉) around you completely “letting the experience develop at its own speed and without expectations,” she said. “To me, slow travel doesn’t have a strict definition or certain things to do, but rather focuses on the feeling of being a visitor to a place.”

Slow travel is becoming more and more popular now, because it can do good to us in many ways.

Gulangyu, which is also called “piano island” or “museum of global architectures”, is an island off the coast of Xiamen, southeast China’s Fujian Province. The little island    1    (think) of as a name card of Xiamen Cityand of Fujian Province as a whole.

Gulangyu saw rapid growth in    2    (it) culture and education in modern times, with schools, hospitals, newspaper offices    3     libraries built by people from both home and abroad.

The island became a famous tourist destination in     4    late 1970s. Unfortunately, efforts to protect the local historical sites and cultural heritages (遗产) fell behind when    5    (tourist) flooded to Gulangyu island. As a result, the    6    ( protect) of Gulangyu became necessary.

Bagua Mansion (八卦楼)，or the Eight Diagrams Mansion, was built in the early 20th century and is one of the attractions on the island. Later on, it was    7    ( bad) in need of repair but there was no enough money to do it.

In 1986, the Xiamen government decided    8    ( repair) the mansion. After that, Bagua Mansion became the only museum of pipe organs, a kind of    9    (tradition)instrument in China and the largest of that kind in the world. The mansion, along    10    52 other historical sites, forms a whole part of Gulangyu’s multicultural heritage, and this made it a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017.