1 . Top 4 Famous Bridges around the World

UNDULATING BRIDGE, CHINA

This bridge is an engineering marvel. Its distinctive architecture is attracting the attention of many engineers worldwide. This bridge includes a variety of routes at different levels. It features “a diversity of routings“ on different heights, providing several routes for walkers to take as they cross the river.

TOWER BRIDGE

Tower Bridge is a symbol for London. The bridge has two Gothic towers and the walkways which cross between the two towers. Visitors can visit the Tower Bridge from the north side of the bridge and watch the bridge for structural engineering. And then from the bridge at high channel across the Thames, enjoy the beautiful scenery on both sides.

BROOKLYN BRIDGE

Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States, connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn. The bridging of the East River was a lengthy and complicated business which saw many men getting injured in the dangerous working conditions of the time. The bridge is now a much-loved feature of New York and can be seen in many television shows and movies.

CHARLES BRIDGE

Charles Bridge’s first stone was laid by King Charles IV. The bridge today offers something of a short history of Prague and Czechoslovakia. A recent renovation saw the original statues being replaced with modern replicas and the originals carefully removed to a museum. Whenever you are in Prague, be sure to wander over the Charles Bridge.

2 . Cities are taking steps to support wildlife populations and educate citizens about the importance of the environment. Here are four of the most wildlife-friendly cities in the United States.

Austin, Texas

Austin, the capital of Texas, earns the rank as the top city for wildlife in large part due to its work to help improve declining monarch butterfly populations. Austin sits within the main migration pattern of the monarch, which means that monarch butterflies pass through it twice annually. Austin also leads all US cities with 2,616 certified (经认证的)wildlife habitats.

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta secures the second-place ranking thanks to its Climate Action Plan, which aims to expand on the 3,000 acres of parks that the city already manages. Already classified by the US Forest Service as one of the most forested urban centers in the country, Atlanta also calls fbr planting more trees and creating more green spaces based on its climate plan. Six neighborhoods in Atlanta have been designated (指定)as Community Wildlife Habitats. Put together, these areas of vegetation can help reduce the urban heat island effect in the city.

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is home to 489 parks that span 6,441 acres, including 2,500 acres of forested public land. The city’s largest park, Discovery Park, covers 534 acres and serves as an important protected area fbr birds and marine animals. Due to the amount of forested land in Seattle, the researchers use the city to study how urban environments can be designed to support wildlife. The Seattle Urban Project enlists the community to report wildlife sightings, which helps to demonstrate how and where flesh-eating mammals can coexist with humans.

Chula Vista, California

Chula Vista, a city in southern California, ranks high on the list due to its efforts to combat water use issues. The city’s NatureScape Program encourages citizens to replace lawns with gardens of native plants that attract pollinators (传粉昆虫)and conserve water. The city has also formed the CLEAN group, a partnership between the government, businesses and community groups designed to address environmental issues.

3 . Weald & Downland Living Museum

Fun fact

Over 50 historic buildings from across the Weald and Downland area have been dismantled (拆除) and then reconstructed across a lovely 40-acre site in the South Downs national park. The collection of buildings represents almost a thousand years of rural life in south-east England: furnished just as they would have been in the past — complete with the homes, farms and public buildings. There’s a sense of exploring a real village as you wander between them along green paths, stopping to climb the stairs of a 17th-century craftsman’s (工匠) cottage to lie on the straw bed or sheltering from a shower in a smoky, 14th-century hall.

Getting there

The Stagecoach 60 bus service from Chichester to Midhurst stops just five minutes away at Grooms Yard, Singleton. The nearest railway stations are Chichester (2 miles) and Haslemere (7 miles). The museum is on Town Lane in Singleton, reached via the A286 from Chichester to Midhurst. Parking is free and there are disabled parking spaces opposite the museum shop.

Value for money?

Yes. It’s not cheap but it’s a special experience that easily fills a day. Plus, it’s a valuable cause worth supporting. Adults ￡14, children 5-17 and students ￡6.50, under-4s free, family ￡38 (two adults and two children) or ￡25 (one adult and three children).

Opening hours

Daily 10am-5pm (last entry 4pm).

4 . In honor of National Park Week, here’s a list of some of the striking features that you can find throughout America.

Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified Forest National Park is not necessarily a dangerous place…as long as you don’t steal the stones. The fossils (化石) are beautiful and somewhat look like precious stones, which makes them an attractive souvenir. But as with all National Park lands, visitors aren’t allowed to take anything from the site, including rocks, plants and animals. And for good reason, removing any of these items can harm the local ecosystem or degrade the geological features. Legend has it that taking a rock can bring about misfortune. Due to this reason, the park receives letters with returned rocks from people wishing for forgiveness for fossil theft.

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park was the first-ever national park, established in 1872. With scenic mountains and rivers and an abundance of wildlife, Yellowstone is home to more than 10,000 hydrothermal features. These include hot springs, mudpots, and over 500 geysers formed from the 2.1 million-year-old super volcano hiding below Yellowstone’s surface. Visitors from all over the world flock to Yellowstone National Park for its geysers.

Mammoth Cave National Park

With tunnels stretching over 420 miles, Mammoth Cave is the world’s largest cave system. Nearly 10 million years ago, water began to swirl its way through the limestone bed, eventually shaping the cave’s massive tunnels. Inside the cave are the classic stalactites and stalagmites, but you’ll also find other unique formations.

Devil’s Tower National Monument

The origins of this unique rock formation is that Devil’s Tower once constituted the inside of a volcano. Eventually, the softer outside rock of the eroded, leaving only the harder igneous rock behind. Among the local peoples, Devil’s Tower is highly sacred. Each community passes down legends of its creation, which typically include someone escaping a big bear and finding refuge atop the rock.

6 . It’s no secret that some of the world’s best ski resorts (胜地) are found within Switzerland’s outstanding mountains. Here are some of them.

Grindelwald—Wengen

If you’re looking for a Swiss postcard ski experience, then Grindelwald is the place for you. The beautiful North Face of the Eiger towers over this pretty mountain village, which has a long history of mountain climbing and skiing. Its main ski area can be skied on the same lift ticket! There’s no better way to get up the mountain here than by train.

Opening Date: Nov. 26, 2022                    Closing Date: Apr. 16, 2023

Flims Laax Falera

What pulls in skiers and snowboarders from all over the world to Flims Laax Falera are the world-class terrain (地形) parks. There’s no denying this ski resort is a big hit with freestylers, but there’s also plenty to attract skiers.

Opening Date: Nov. 28, 2022                    Closing Date: Apr. 26, 2023

Engelberg

Engelberg is a rising star for a range of good reasons, but the highlight is the massive free-ride potential. The secret is most definitely out as the town fills up every year with Scandinavians in search of their dry light snow.

Opening Date: Oct.15, 2022                    Closing Date: May 21, 2023

Zermatt

Zermatt is the best of Switzerland’s ski resorts. This is your resort if you have the money to afford it! Fantastic restaurants are seen all over the mountain, serving Swiss cheese hotpot and other cooking masterpieces.

Opening Date: Nov. 26, 2022                    Closing Date: Apr. 30, 2023

7 . Heading out of the Scottish Borders and west into Dumfries &Galloway, there are plenty of sights still to see on the journey.

GREY MARE’S TAIL

As one of the UK’s highest waterfalls, Rey Mare’s Tail is well worth a stop. Park up at the car park, and just along a short path, you can stand and admire this tall, natural feature as the water pours down the hanging valley. On the other side from the first path is a second path, following the path, and you’ll reach Loch Skeen, a beautiful glassy swimming pool of mountain water available for travellers.

MOFFAT

After you walk head to nearby Moffat for a short stroll around the town, you can have something to eat in one of the cafes or restaurants. If you’ve got time to spare, Moffat is Europe’s first Dark Sky Town, so as soon as the sun sets, you get a better view of the night sky thanks to the special street lighting.

WANLOCKHEAD

Take a drive further west into Dumfries & Galloway and you’ll soon reach the dizzy heights of not just the south of Scotland, but all of Scotland! Wanlockhead is Scotland’s highest village, which won’t come as a surprise once you’re there.

CRAWICK MULTIVERSE

Just a short drive from the highest village, is a good place to stretch your legs and see a different place on the area’s local industry. Crawick Multiverse has used landscape art to transform a former open cast coal mine into a 55-acre artland, visitor attraction and public space.

8 . Are you fond of watching films? Does the colorful, natural, or spectacular scenery in the films attract you to travel to their locations? We have selected three gorgeous film locations in China. If you’re a film fan or an outdoor enthusiast, check them out!

Fengguo Temple ＆ The Grandmaster (《一代宗师》)

Located in Y’xian county, Jinzhou, Northeast China’s Liaoning province, the Fengguo Temple is a Buddhist temple established in 1020, covering a total area of 60, 000 square meters. It is one of only three Liao Dynasty temples still in existence in China.

The main hall of the Fengguo Temple is the Buddha hall believed to be one of the largest in the world in ancient times. It is home to the world’s oldest and largest clay sculptures of painted Buddha statues. The Fengguo Temple was designated (指定) as a national foremost protected cultural heritage site in 1961 and a 4A-level tourist attraction in 2009.

Yunshuiyao Ancient Town ＆ The Knot (《云水谣》)

Situated in Zhangzhou, East China’s Fujian province, Yunshuiyao Ancient Town has a long history and is one of the scenic spots of the world heritage site, the Fujian Tulou. There is a magnificent banyan tree (榕树) group in the town consisting of 13 banyan trees, some of which are thousands of years old. Yunshuiyao Ancient Town is distinguished for its unique tulou clusters at the foot of the mountain. Fifty-three of these earthen buildings, which were first constructed in the mid Yuan Dynasty, are still standing today.

Dajiu Lake Wetland Park＆ The Assassin (《刺客聂隐娘》)

Located in Shennongjia UNESCO Global Geopark, Central China’s Hubei province, the Dajiu Lake Wetland Park boasts fascinating sceneries. It is a rare subalpine peat marsh wetland in the world’s middle latitude, at an altitude of over 1, 730 meters and with a total area of 20, 000 hectares.

Known as “Hulun Buir of Hubei province”, it is home to nine lakes on the plateau and lush meadows (草地). In the wetland park, there are extensive alpine meadows, wetland ferns (蕨类植物) , and some animals, such as storks, cranes, and sika deer, which are valuable for scientific research.

10 . As Alexandria Country Day School’s sixth-graders created miniature 3D printed villages to address homelessness, they learned lessons far beyond technology.

“It Takes a Village” began as a project for a science class, inspired by life-size 3D-printed homes built by Austin, Texas-based technology company Icon.

No strangers to classroom 3D projects, the students were fascinated by Icon’s use of a similar process to create homes made of inexpensive concrete-like material. Unlike standard construction methods, the process of building these durable homes takes just a few days.

While creating their mini 3D buildings, the students explored how such technology allows design freedom and quick changes. Mathematical conversions helped get the relations right. For example, a real 25-foot-by-20-foot one-bedroom house would be printed as 40-millimeter-by-32-millimeter (about 1 1/2 inch by 1 1/4 inch) for their mini village. Salwa Seman, 11, said that getting the dimensions and settings correct before construction began was challenging as she created a curved-wall amphitheater (圆形剧场).

The tech-focused project quickly evolved into “an exercise in empathy (共情), innovation and cooperation designed to bring about lasting change”. “When most people think of helping the homeless, they think of food and clothing drives,” said Juliet Galicia, 11. “While necessary, those are temporary fixes. Even housing by itself is not a complete solution.”

In designing their leave-homelessness-behind neighborhoods, priorities were shelter, food stores, schools, and health centers. But to build a sense of belonging and purpose, the miniature communities also emphasized areas for frequent interaction among residents. “We wanted to make it feel more like a real community,” said Luke Wazorko, 11. A community garden, a place to raise chickens, an amphitheater for shared events, bus stops for access to jobs, and infrastructure for Wi-Fi and cellphones to help in job searches were important features to offer formerly unhoused residents.

Amber Fogarty, president of a nonprofit organization tackling homelessness in Austin, said, “Housing alone will never solve homelessness, but community will. People need a place where they are known, cared for and loved.”