1 . Visit London’s most famous places of interest on one of these top London sightseeing tours. Don’t forget your camera!

Take the Warner Bros. Studio Tour for a lively, behind-the-scenes look at film-making. What attracts the tourists most are the sets, costumes and props from the Harry Potter film series. They can experience the British art, technology and talent that produced world-famous movies at Warner Bros. Studio Tour. (Tickets from￡63)

Have a sightseeing tour on the Thames with City Cruises. Sit back, relax, and enjoy London’s top sights and attractions from the river. You can also enjoy a special lunch, dinner or an afternoon tea with a view you’ll never forget. (Tickets from ￡9.75)

Spread your legs and explore London on a guided walking or bike tour. Choices include a celebrity walking tour of Notting Hill, a walk around Westminster by gaslight, a Jack the Ripper tour, a London street markets walk, and bike tours around secret attractions and royal London. (Tickets from￡10)

Follow the same steps the Queen takes when she opens a session at the Houses of Parliament. Stand behind the Prime Minister’s seat in the House of Commons and see Cromwell’s death warrant for Charles I. Use the guided audio tour to recreate the atmosphere of government and learn about its historical significance. (Tickets from￡18.50)

2 . The California State Railroad Museum (CSRM) is in Old Sacramento. It was completed at a cost of $16.1 million, and the museum opened in May 1981. It houses 21 old locomotives (火车头) and cars. Here, visitors can learn a lot about railroad history in California and the West in America.

The museum is open from 10 a. m. to 5 p. m. daily (except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day). Tickets are sold until 4:30 p. m. $12 adults; $6 students; children aged 5 and under are free.

A small number of parking spaces are on the streets of Old Sacramento. However, these spaces are not for guests visiting longer than 90 minutes. All-day parking is in large public garages at both ends of Old Sacramento.

The Silver Palace Restaurant serves good food at the right prices. It is just one block southwest of the main entrance to the museum.

5 . I have well travelled in Spain and visited a good number of Spanish cities. However, no city will ever quite match Cadiz, where I spent six months studying as a student.

Before that, I knew very little about Cadiz but I decided to take a risk and explore it. Well, the risk certainly paid off.

Cadiz, Europe’s oldest city, hangs off Spain’s southern coast on a peninsula (半岛), surrounded almost entirely by water. As you leave the shady streets of the historical old city and explore more of it, you are met with vast areas of the blue Atlantic Ocean and white sandy beaches, which in my opinion are some of the best in Spain!

One of the great things about Cadiz is the wonderful, rich culture of food and drink. There are little tapa (小吃) bars lining every street and most will serve tapas for around 1.50—2 euros, meaning you can try a whole variety of Andalusian dishes.

Cadiz has also come to be known as “The Singing City”. It comes from the annual carnival (狂欢节), one of the biggest in Europe. A very large number of people go to Cadiz to see it. During those ten days, Cadiz’s narrow streets are filled with the sound of singing as musical groups fight for a place in the contest, which takes place on the last Saturday of carnival. The songs perfectly show the sense of humor of the Gaditanos, who, besides being so warm and welcoming, are said to have the best sense of humor in Spain!

That is my experience of Cadiz: a wonderful, typically Andalusian city which is often overlooked but well worth a visit. I am currently living in Huelva, just a short drive from Cadiz, so please pay attention to my next sharing!

6 . China is one of the world’s ancient civilizations and has the earliest outstanding bronze casting technology. Here we’ve created a list of 4 museums where you can gain an in-depth understanding of Chinese bronze.

Sanxingdui Museum

Address: Sanxingdui Ruin Site, 133 Xian Road, Guanghan, Deyang, Sichuan province

Hours: Comprehensive Gallery (the first exhibition hall): 8:30-18:00; Bronze Gallery (the second exhibition hall): 8:30-18:30. Last tickets sold at 17:00. Closed on the morning of Chinese New Year’s Eve

Ticket booking: 0838-5651526

General admission: Gallery ticket 80 yuan

Note: Children shorter than 1.2m (including 1.2m) can visit the gallery free of charge. The ticket must be used on the day it is sold and authorizes one visit to each gallery.

National Museum of China

Address: East side of Tian’anmen Square, Dongcheng district, Beijing

Hours: 8:30-17:00 (no entry after 16:30)

General admission: Free (passport required for entry), Closed Mondays (except for national holidays)

E-mail: webmaster@chnmuseum.cn

Shanghai Museum

Address: 201 Renmin Avenue, Huangpu district, Shanghai

Hours: 9:00-17:00 (no entry after 16:00), Closed Mondays (except for national holidays)

E-mail: webmaster@shanghai-museum.org

General admission: free (a max of 8, 000 admitted daily)

Hunan Museum

Address: 50 Dongfeng Road, Changsha, Hunan province

Hours:   9:00-17:00 (no entry after 16:00), Closed Mondays (except for national holidays) and the eve of Chinese New Year

Tel: (+86-731) 8415833, 84475933

E-mail: web@hnmuseum.com

General admission: Free (passport required for entry)

Two villages have been named the Best Tourism Villages 2022 by the World Tourism Organization, thanks to their achievements in balancing tourism with economic development while     1     (stick) to environmental protection.

According to the organization, 32 villages in 18 countries and regions including Austria, Chile and China     2     (award) the recognition late on Tuesday. China’s Dazhai village in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region     3     Jingzhu village in Chongqing won the recognition.

Figures     4     (provide) by the county’s culture and tourism bureau show that tourism development in Dazhai has brought great economic benefits to villagers and created more jobs     5     them since the village started to develop tourism around 2003.

As the bureau has pointed out,     6     the village only received 32,000 visits in 2004, the number rose     7     (sharp) to nearly 798, 000 in 2019. The villagers’ average income among its 1,212 people of 271 households, also saw     8     rise from 700 yuan per year ($100) to over 34,500 yuan in 2019, the bureau said.

Jingzhu village, the other village recognized by the World Tourism Organization this year, is located in Wulong district of southwest Chongqing. Seated deep in the mountains, the Jingzhu Village keeps the lifestyles and architectural     9     (feature) that are rooted in its distinctive cultural and geographic conditions, laying the foundation of the successful renovation.

The World Tourism Organization began to award Best Tourism Villages across the world in 2021     10     (promote) the cultural heritage protection and sustainable development of villages. China so far has four villages winning the title, the other two being Yucun village in Zhejiang and Xidi village in Anhui.