Whenever anyone asks me where my favorite place in China is, I say Dali without hesitation. Dali,     1    (surround) by mountains for hiking and lakes for bicycling around , is the kind of place that everyone likes.

Last year I met a couple of young students I’d known    2     I travelled to Dali, and we agreed     3    (cycle) along the lake in a small town outside of Dali. The lake     4     (it) was pretty easy to cycle around ,     5     flat paths passing through a lot of little villages. While cycling, a woman recommended an hour-long boat ride for about 40 RMB each--a bit expensive but     6     adventure we felt like having, so we paid for it.

In about 20 minutes we witnessed in     7    (excite) how a fisherman fished with his fishing birds. A string was tied around each bird’s neck so that when it dived for fish, it was unable to swallow them. The birds     8     (give) a fish as payment for their service after the fisherman had a satisfactory catch. I’d     9           (previous) read about this fishing method, but it was pretty exciting to see first-hand.

The day finished with a brilliant sunset,     10     I climbed onto a roof to get a photo of.

2 .     1     the improvement of life standards，there are a growing number of people travelling each year,     2     is a good way to enjoy life. Some people would like     3     (take) a package tour, while others would rather     4     (travel) on their own. I prefer to     5     latter, because I feel that it’s much     6     (convenient) and cheaper than taking a package tour as I did before.

First of all, travelling on my own, I can arrange my time and route more freely. For example, when I get to someplace I like, I     7     choose to stay longer and don’t have to think about others. Secondly, to save time, the schedule is relatively(相对地)tight joining package tours, and tourists can only stay very short time in each tourist attraction.     8     is difficult to enjoy every landscape carefully.     9    , in order to earn money, some travel agencies(旅行社)force tourists to consume. In the meantime, travelling on my own is much cheaper and get more fun. Finally, the trip is designed to relax. However, many people say that package tours are not to make them really relax,     10     even more tired.

On the whole, I prefer to travel on my own, which is more convenient.