40,000 people cross Tower Bridge each day. Now you can see inside it.

The Glass Floor measures 11 metres long and 1.8 metres wide, including panels (嵌板) weighing 530 kilograms each. It is no wonder the installation (安装) took a 20-strong team to complete it!

See London life through the Glass Floor, from a unique viewpoint 42 metres above the River Thames, and 33.5 metres above road level. Watch the hustle and bustle (熙熙攘攘) of the city right beneath your feet.

Immerse (沉浸) yourself in this atmospheric space, where exciting interactivities, films and photographs will explore and explain the role of this workplace at the heart of Tower Bridge.

Our family activities are FREE with entry and are offered throughout the day. Drop in and join in on the flu. It is open to children of all ages but is particularly appropriate for those aged 6 to 10.

Once a month on a Saturday. We host Relaxed Opening for anyone who would like to explore the Bridge in a atmosphere, including people with autism (自闭症) and any other needs.

Time: 10:30, 10:50 and 11:10. Please note that Tower Bridge will open to the general public again at 11:30 but you are welcome to stay for as long as you like.

Open daily from 9:30 to 18:00.

5 . Xishuangbanna, one of the eight autonomous prefectures (自治州) in Southwest China’s Yunnan province, has made it to the list of Lonely Planet’s top 10 regions to visit in 2022.

With the China-Laos railway scheduled to open on December 2, 2021, trips to Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture would be more accessible. Along with neighboring Myanmar and Laos, the exotic region is best known for dense tropical rainforest and distinct ethnic culture.

A paradise for plants and animals

Xishuangbanna boasts the most intact tropical ecosystem in China, which harbors a quarter of the country’s animal species and one sixth of plants. There are quite a few spots to get a glimpse of this animal and plant paradise, and Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) always comes first.

XTBG, situated in the south of the province, is not only the country’s top level tourist attraction, but also a research institution affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Home to over 13,000 species of plants, it is one of the largest tropical botanical gardens in the country.

The site is divided into two areas: one in the east, and the other in the west. The western area has 20 small botanical gardens that contain a wide variety of peculiar plants. The eastern area is three times bigger than the other, featuring dense tropical rainforests and giant waterfalls.

If tropical plants are not enough, the Wild Elephant Valley would be a great option for animal lovers. The nature reserve is the only place in China to observe Asian elephants at close quarters and it shelters other rare wild animals, too.

Dai ethnic culture

The Dai ethnic group has lived in Xishuangbanna for centuries, accounting for around 30 percent of the region’s population. A visit to the tropical paradise would never be complete without experiencing the local culture.

Manting Park is the oldest park in the region that dates back 1,300 years, which is also one of the main venues for the annual Water Splashing Festival (WSF), the most important traditional occasion for the Dai people to welcome the New Year.

The festival usually falls in mid-April and involves three days of festive celebrations, including religious rituals, water splashing, boat racing and releasing sky lanterns.

6 . Educational travel can consist of a simple excursion, such as visiting your local post office, or a longer trip, such as a trip to Egypt to see the pyramids up close.    1    . Consider planning educational travel with your children, in your own town or to other places in the world. 

Time With Family

Taking your children on educational traveling experiences ensures that your family will be spending quality time together. According to New Mexico State University, time spent with parents can help children to feel secure in their relationship and may help parents to get to know their kids better.     2    . 

Hands-on Learning

Outside of school, a child on an educational trip is free to search deeply into whatever he is learning about. An archaeological dig, for example, provides the opportunity for a child to experience the sights, sounds and experience of digging for and identifying fossils.     3    . Your child may be able to decorate a cookie at a bakery excursion or milk a cow during a visit to a nearby farm. 

    4    

If you have the opportunity to take your child on a vacation to another country, she will acquire an appreciation for the differences and similarities that exist between different cultures. Tasting foreign foods, hearing different languages and visiting homes in other countries can be an eye-opening experience for a child or an adult.

New Perspective on History

    5    . Her preteen son, who had always considered history boring, fell in love with American history after hearing storytellers tell shocking tales of the experiences of people during the Civil War. Seeing and experiencing historical sites can make history come alive for young people.

8 . China’s most attractive museums

Right next to the capital’s art centre 798 Art District, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum took over a decommissioned (停止使用的) electronics factory, reopening after being redesigned by Chinese architect Zhu Pei. Funded by China Minsheng Bank, the museum has already hosted a lot of big-ticket exhibitions.

Fans of London’s Tate Modern will immediately spot the similarities with Shanghai’s Power Station of Art, a huge riverside box with a 165-metre chimney. It started life as the Nanshi Power Plant three decades ago before becoming the Pavilion of the Future at the 2010 Shanghai Expo. In 2012, it became China’s first state-owned contemporary art museum, with six floors of exhibition space.

Design Society in Shenzhen serves as a showcase for local and international design, given serious standing by its partnership with London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, probably the most famous design institution in the world. On show are 250 objects from the collection in London, telling how design represents a two-way exchange of ideas and culture.

Positioned on a hillside in Laoshan National Forest Park in Nanjing, this private art museum is actually a group of diverse buildings, each designed by outstanding architects and artists. The centrepiece is a boxy gallery space protruding (突出) from the mountainside and seemingly súspendedin mid-air, designed by American architect Steven Holl.

9 . There is no better way for a foreigner to understand China and its people than firsthand experience.     1    

The experience of traveling around China has paid off handsomely, both in aspects of personal enrichment and in my ability to do my job well as an editor. When news articles mention places in China, I can often visualize(视觉化) them.

There was an article, for example, about the people of Guoliang village, built on the top of a remote cliff(悬崖) in Henan province.     2     They used hand tools to dig an amazing tunnel through hard rock to achieve that goal.

I have seen that tunnel and, having done so, acquired a vivid understanding of that incredible task. But what has stuck with me above all other memories of China was an experience at Beijing’s Temple of Heaven.

It was a pleasant summer evening, just at sunset. My wife and I were walking through the gate of the temple park to enjoy the dusky calm. Suddenly, I heard what sounded like distant voices raised in song.     3     The sound grew louder as I approached until I finally came to the source—a group of maybe 30 ordinary people gathered in a loose circle, singing joyfully.

    4     But I could follow the melody(旋律) and harmony, taking advantage of a small amount of vocal training and practice from my distant past. And so I joined in, adding my voice to help send the sound to heaven.

The Chinese people standing nearby offered smiles of welcome. It was a moment of unity. The politicians might call it a people-to-people exchange. For me, the group represented a feeling of love, like a family.

It was over all too soon, and everybody left.     5     I couldn’t help but wonder. If whole nations could sing together, wouldn’t the world be a better place?

10 . With enough money, it’s possible to do something unbelievable in Dubai and now you can add another to the list — walking on the moon. Recently, Canadian architectural company Moon World Resorts announced plans to construct a $5 billion resort (度假村) that looks like the moon in Dubai.

The project, named Moon Dubai, is meant to help visitors experience space tourism, which allows guests to find out what it is like to walk on the moon. The resort will be very luxurious and contemporary, with a lot of components inside that one would already know — for example, a wellness area, residential properties, restaurants, a convention center, and a spa, each with a lunar twist (月球扭). It will also include a training platform for space agencies and astronauts.

Space tourism currently comes with a big price tag, and it’s a barrier to entry for most travelers. However, the moon resort experience will be significantly cheaper. A walk on the lunar surface of the moon resort is much more affordable at $500.

“Moon Dubai will significantly impact every aspect of the UAE’s economy, including tourism, transportation, commercial and residential real estate, infrastructure, financial services, aviation and space, energy, agriculture, technology and of course education,” says Michael R. Henderson, co-founder of Moon World Resorts. “It will be the largest and most successful modern-day tourism project in the MENA region, doubling annual tourism visitations to Dubai based on its global appeal, brand awareness and unique multiple integrated offerings.”

Whether the project will eventually take off is currently unknown. If the design can be successful, it will require a 12-month pre-development planning program and a 48-month building process. But the company’s plan is viable (可行的). Moreover, Henderson estimated that the moon resort could open in 2027.