The Chinese American Museum,     1     (locate) in downtown Washington, 800 meters from the White House, is the only Chinese museum in Washington, DC, the United States.

Philip Qiu, the founder of the Museum, said it     2     (establish) to tell the story of Chinese people in America, highlight their contributions to the country     3     improve people’s understanding of Chinese-American culture.

Over the past few years, the museum has been devoted     4     collecting, preserving, researching and displaying the history and culture of Chinese Americans. It hopes to encourage Chinese Americans to show     5     (they) and tell and record their own stories and experiences in the US     6     (proud).

The museum has held more than 15 high quality     7    (exhibition) with different themes. The items on display include artworks from China and the US, antique documents, calligraphy, paintings and clothing,     8     has attracted more than 150,000 visitors from all over the world.

    9     (celebrate) the Chinese New Year, from the end of January to the beginning of February, the museum held the “Welcome to the New Year” lantern exhibition and Chinese New Year cultural display activities.

“I always believe that human civilization is like a big family, and the culture of every nationshould be respected,” Qiu said. “Cultural exchanges like this will     10     (strength) communication between people from the two countries,” he added.

4 . Famous Modern Chinese Buildings

Beijing International Airport

The first place most visitors see when they arrive in China is Beijing International Airport. The airport was constructed in the 1950s. It has an indoor garden, a children’s playground, and over 70 food businesses in Terminal 3 alone.

Shanghai World Financial Centre

Completed in 2008, Shanghai World Financial Centre(SWFC) took over 10 years to complete due to financial shortages and construction delays. Since its completion, it has won countless architectural awards. Tourists are welcome at SWFC’s viewing platform, which is the world’s highest closed viewing platform.

The Water Cube

It was constructed for use during the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. Now visitors can express surprise at the architecture of the building. They can enjoy the indoor atmosphere as well.

Among the offerings of the Water Cube are a restaurant and bar, a shopping area, and Water World, a family water park.

The Bird’s Nest, Beijing

It was designed mainly for the 2008 Summer Olympics. It can hold more than 80, 000 people and has been used for a winter theme park. Nowadays, it has become a popular tourist attraction and its main income is from tourism. It draws more than 20,000 tourists every day.

National Centre for the Performing Arts

It was completed in 2007. The building is surrounded by a man-made lake, requiring guests to enter via an underground hallway. It is home to three different venues (活动场所): the Opera House, the Concert Hall and the Theatre.

Running: February 1st through April 30th

This delicious tour goes through the city on its way to Treasure Island where we will stop at the famous Winery SF. Here you can enjoy 4 pours of some of the best wine San Francisco has to offer. (Included in tickets price)

Departing from the Cannery: Tour times upon request.

Duration (时长): 2 hours

Price: $90

Running: August 16th through August 31st

This tour transports you back in time to one of San Francisco’s most fantastic periods, the 1950s! Enjoy fun history as we take you through San Francisco for a free taste of ice cream.

Departing from the Cannery: 5:00 pm and 7:30 pm

Duration: 2 hours

Price: $90

Running: October 10th through October 31st

Join us for a ride through the historical Presidio district. Authentic fire gear (服装) is provided for your warmth as our entertainers take you to some of the most thrilling parts of San Francisco.

Departing from the Cannery: 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm

Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Price: Available upon request

Running: December 6th through December 23rd

This attractive tour takes you to some of San Francisco’s most cheerful holiday scenes. Authentic fire gear is provided for your warmth as you get into the holiday spirit.

Departing from the Cannery: 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm

Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Advance reservations required.

7 . Recently, my husband and three kids were playing in the Mediterranean, swimming and floating in the picture-perfect sea. It was extremely beautiful in Majorca, Spain. The way the sun danced across the water and how the blue horizon was dotted with storybook sailboats were such beautiful scenes. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes.

My husband and I always dreamed about taking our kids on a trip around the world. It was something we always wanted to do “one day”. It was one of the things we talked at length about, when we imagined our life with the children we hoped we would have.

Fourteen years later, we had three boys who were growing up faster by the day. It was time to make good on those plans.

We spent dozens of hours discussing, researching and planning. We had to learn how to “road school” our kids and arrange time off from work. We renewed our passports, and then packed our bags. We showed our kids the world. It was about experiencing the dozens of flights and trains and taxis together. We showed them how wonderful, how diverse, and how amazing the world is. We wanted them to learn all that we had learned ourselves, through our own travels as young adults.

But there was something more than that: What we really wanted is to slow down time. We wanted the days to last a bit longer, and the weeks to take their time. The years with our children are going too fast. We wanted to put the brakes on (阻止) our busy lives for a year, and just be with our kids. We wanted a break from the daily morning routine of making lunches, eating breakfast and rushing out of the door in time for school. We needed a family time-out.

It was a wonderful two-month trip in Europe, full of incredible moments. And when we look back at our lives, I know we’ll be glad we did it. I know we’ll be happy that this is a chapter of the story of our family.

8 . One day in March 2008, I made a big decision. I decided to shut down my law practice and travel around the world in a year. What’s more, I would do it without taking any flights or making a single advance booking of any kind.

When I made this hare-brained plan, I didn’t mean to have an ever lasting life on the road. I was planning to come back after my year of travel, open a new law practice and write a hugely successful book about my adventure.

I set off on my adventure in December 2008 and I found travelling without using planes was not easy. Trying to travel around the world in 16 months made it even harder. Even so, traveling overland was the most amazing way to truly understand the immensity of our wonderful planet.

I took three overnight buses to travel 3,000 km through Argentina, from Ushuaia to the capital Buenos Aires. I would look out of the windows for hours on end at the completely unspoiled (未遭破坏的) plains (平原), as if humans had never touched it.

It took seven days and nights on trains to get from Moscow to Beijing, each day spent looking out of the windows for hours as the Siberian plains swept by. Sometimes, I wouldn’t see a village or a human being for ten hours. Later in my journey, it took me 22 days to get from New Zealand through the Panama Canal and back to Philadelphia to finish my round-the-world adventure.

It turned out that travelling with no advance booking was far less difficult than I had imagined. Pulling into a city on a bus with a backpack, looking in a guidebook for a few suggestions for accommodations and then finding an empty room was never much of a problem anywhere. It also kept me free and open about all my travel plans which is the advice I give to everyone who asks plan far less than you think you should.