3 . Standing on a hill at Cliveden Gardens on a sunny winter day, its dark-green lake surrounded by centuries-old trees took my breath away.     1     It’s just a local park near London that I’d never heard of during my eight years living in the UK. As I admired the serene garden, it taught me a lesson about the British culture of understatement.

“The English landscape is more beautiful because its beauty is understated,” my friend Will said to me later as we walked through an exhibition at Tate Britain. He pointed to a painting of a peaceful countryside. “This is the landscape I grew up with”, he said. Unlike grand waterfalls or wild forests, this scenery doesn’t shout about its beauty.     2    

I wonder if Chinese tourists will explore beyond London.     3     Indeed, Oxford and Cambridge and the beloved Lake District National Park are some iconic symbols of Britain. But it would be a pity if they miss out on the lesser-known parts of the English landscape.

    4     I remember a straight-A classmate once telling me he “survived exams” and another friend from Oxford introducing himself as “studying in the countryside”. This modesty also has its mirror in Chinese culture. I remember my parents’ telling me to work hard but not to brag about my achievements. Chinese culture is full of proverbs such as “real gold will shine sooner or later”, to encourage long-term dedication to one’s chosen area of expertise.

Experiencing both cultures, I’ve realized that the English and Chinese both express achievements with understatement.     5     It reflects the unspoken charm in both British and Chinese traditions. And it’s an off-the-beaten-path attraction well worth exploration.

4 . Location

St Helena is one of the remotest islands on Earth. The subtropical (亚热带的) British Overseas Territory sits in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, 1,200 miles from the west coast of Africa and 1,800 miles from the east coast of South America.

Size Population

St Helena is only 16 km long and 9 km wide and the population is 5,000. This is 1/3 the size of the Isle of Wight, and the same size as Disney World Orlando. This is also the same size as San Francisco―yet the island has just 0.5% of San Francisco’s population. With an extremely low-crime community, you can freely explore the island’s natural and built attractions in peace.

Climate

As a subtropical island, St Helena’s temperature is 15-28°C all year round. While the four seasons are not recognized on St Helena, the “cooler months” are generally June to September and the “hotter months” are December to March. St Helena is free from extreme weather events, with even thunderstorms only occurring perhaps once a decade.

Accessibility

Until 2017, St Helena did not have an airport and was only accessible by sea. Reaching the island meant a five-day ship voyage from Cape Town, South Africa. However, since October 2017, the island’s first and only airport has enabled passengers to reach the island in just a six-hour flight.

6 . The UK is home to 26 world-ranked universities of the top 200 globally. At the heart of each university is the library, a space for students to access resources, absorb knowledge and gather thoughts. Here are some of our must-visit libraries across the UK.

Located in London, the British Library is home to over 170 million items. The collections offer a glimpse into literary heritage over the ages, from books to maps to manuscripts. Visitors can browse treasures including Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook. Students with a reading pass are known to spend hours at a time in the reading rooms.

Dating back to 1488, the Bodleian Old Library has three notable reading rooms. It is celebrated for its late Gothic architecture. You may recognize the elaborately carved ceiling from scenes in Harry Potter. Students at the university automatically get access to the library.

Opened in 1900, this library is part of the University of Manchester, one of the top five universities in the UK. This library offers limitless research potential for students. Whether you want to make use of the rich collections available, or simply explore the site, this library should be on everyone’s must-see list.

The Mitchell Library is one of Glasgow’s most famous landmarks. On the top of the copper dome (圆屋顶) is a bronze statue of the Roman goddess, Minerva. Visitors can climb the dome for the city’s most distinctive rooftop views.

7 . National parks are an excellent way to explore all the beauty that the world has to offer: whether it’s endangered species, erupting volcanoes and snowy mountains, or rainforests and lakes. Of the thousands of national parks that exist in the world, these are the ones that should be on everyone’s bucket list.

Contrary (相反) to the popular link of national parks with the wilderness, it is filled with winding valleys, hills and villages where over 24,000 people live and work. Visitors can walk through grassland, visit waterfalls or explore underground caves, but Yorkshire Dales is also home to several food shops, and the park hosts cheese festivals and farmers markets regularly, so it’s best to go hungry.

It is a delight for those who like a bit of history mixed with the biodiversity of national parks. While it houses thousands of species of wildlife, there’s more to the national park than that.

It is surrounded by striking natural beauty and can be explored by land. But the river national park, as the name suggests, is best explored through leisurely boat rides that take visitors through many ancient towns that come along the way of the river.

Here’s a surprising fact: The whole of Vatnajökull National Park makes up 14% of Iceland’s territory! The park is usually open for hikes around the glaciers; boat rides through glacier lakes, and tours that take visitors through the park’s many ice caves, waterfalls, and icebergs. Vatnajökull is also where two of Iceland’s most active volcanoes are located.

8 . In Leadville, Colorado, the highest-altitude city(10,158 feet) in the United States, thousands of endurance athletes gather annually to test their endurance in the Leadville Trail 100 ultramarathon. The highest peak of the race route is the Hope Pass at an altitude of 12.620 feet. Half of the runners don’t finish, but they keep coming back.    1    It’s ticket sells out every year.

Whether you’re coming to race or not, Leadville is a unique city that is worth visiting. Part of the attraction is Leadville itself. The Victorian-era mining town is one of the best preserved in the state. There are more than 70 registered historic buildings and eight museums.    2    .

For ordinary visitors to Leadville, there are less extreme options for getting fresh but thin mountain air.    3    The circular path covers 11.6 miles through the evergreen forests. Plan enough time to stop for the trail’s interpretive signs, which explain the important places and people of Leadville’s storied past.

Harrison Avenue is the best place for a walk through Cloud City, with dozens of architecturally distinct commercial buildings and a mix of bars, cafes, and stores.    4    .

Leadville’s most famous building is the Tabor Opera House. When it was built in 1879 by Horace Tabor, a local rich miner, the theater was the most expensive architecture in Colorado. Today it’s considered a National Treasure and still used for musical performances and stage plays.

    5    It designs, makes, and sells T-shirts only at its Leadville workshop and store on Harrison Avenue. The T-shirts are in such high demand that in 2021, the owner and founder Fritz Howard carried out an appointment-only purchasing system. In July 2023, T-shirts there were booked until December.

9 . Fall is a fantastic time to wander the woods of western Quebec on a colourful journey from the Ottawa or Montreal regions. From mid-September through mid-October, the autumn colors hit their high notes, and while the days are typically warm, the nights are perfect-for-cosy-campfires cool. Outdoor adventures and comfortable accommodations allow visitors to get closer to nature. This Four-day tour could be extended to spend more time with the trees.

DAY1 On the north bank of the Ottawa River, Parc national de Plaisance features five accessible hiking trails that wind through the mighty waterway. In fall, fish-hunting herons, busy beavers and skittish mallards exist in quantities. Bonus: the park offers a range of accommodations, including fully equipped ready-to-camp tents.

DAY2 One of North America’s largest and oldest private wilderness preserves, Kenauk Nature boasts more than 60 lakes within its boundaries and some 20 kilometres of hiking trails. Combine the Fern and Skymount trails for a four-kilometre walk that winds through a young hardwood forest. Spend the night in the centre’s off-grid mountain hut with its overall views of the surrounding region.

DAY3 Tour Tremblant offers an easy way to explore the bike trails around Mont-Tremblant: high-stability, electric-assist mountain bikes. White-tailed deer are particularly fearless at this time of year. For those who enjoy a slower pacc, D-Tour also offers traditional guided hikes with knowledgeable locals.

DAY4 Rent a canoc and paddle along the water-carved rock walls of Lac Patrice in Parc national d’Aiguebelle. Some sections of the shoreline are made up of pillow lava, cushion-shaped volcanic rock created by underwater lava. For great views, hike to the 22-metre-high suspension bridge that crosses the lake.

10 . TEENAGE KICKS

Satisfy your teens’ appetite for the unusual in Bristol with classic shopping and immersive art.

While it can be tricky to persuade some teens to embrace art, you’ll find it easier in Bristol. You won’t have to look too hard to encounter the handiwork of the city’s talented son, Banksy — who was born here — on a walking tour and there are 200 other o dd street artists in the city. There are spray-painting workshops too if your teens want to try this type of art themselves.

If all that graffiti leads to a new-found interest in art, then the next step is Wake The Tiger, a new immersive art experience. Through a maze (迷宫) of creative works, installations, hidden forests and secret passageways, you and your family will enter the fictional kingdom of Meridia and follow a fascinating storyline involving the secrets of the world’s four great associations. It’s perfect for teen fantasy fans.

If your teen is keen to develop their emo or fairy core style, take them to Park Street to discover the junk and vintage shops, including Uncle Sam’s Vintage, perfect for everything from American distinctive jackets to Levi’s jeans as well as The Vintage Thrift Store, Loot Vintage and Sobeys.

With dumplings to Caribbean-inspired wraps, St Nicholas Markets, or St Nick’s to the locals, has delicious lunch options. It’s Bristol’s oldest market, trading since 1743. When you’re finished, don’t miss the shopping: It’s also home to Bristol’s largest collection of independent retailers.