1 . Kick off the fall season with us in Charleston, South Carolina, September 23^rd&24th! Gather Charleston will be a weekend event you don’t want to miss-celebrating delicious food, local culture, and Southern heritage.

Wentworth Mansion

The grandest mansion in the Holy City, Wentworth Mansion displays a sense of history, unmatched luxury, and Southern hospitality-all just steps from award-winning dining, art, history, and shopping.

Guest offer: free valet parking, breakfast served in Circa 1886 restaurant, afternoon wine, evening cordials and in-room soft drinks.

149 Wentworth Street, Charleston. 843-853-1886

The Loutrel

Located between Church Street and State Street in Charleston’s historic district, The Loutrel shows the city’s elegance, offering amazing comfort for modern travelers.

Offer code: “FoodWine” —10% off with free parking, a welcome cocktail, European breakfast, and WiFi.

61 State St., Charleston. 843-872-9600

The Charleston Place

An independent, iconic landmark in the heart of Charleston’s historic district. Redefining the legendary spaces, experiences and city-with renewed passion, purpose, and intention.

Offer code: “GATHER” —includes daily breakfast credit (抵免) (up to $ 30 per person, per day), welcome amenity, and valet parking.

205 Meeting St., Charleston. 843-722-4900

Emeline

Welcome to Emeline, a fashionable hotel located on Church St. in downtown Charleston. We bring southern charm to life with delightful surprises.

Offer code: “CHS22” —15% off room rate and a 25 dining credit (per stay).

181 Church St., Charleston. 843-577-2644

For more information on tickets and event programming, visit gather-charleston.com.

2 . Last summer holiday, Aunt Emily took us to a safari park (野生动物园), not far from Liverpool.

I was very happy to go as I had never been to a safari park before. It’s a very interesting park, full of wild animals running freely.

When we got there, we bought our tickets and drove into the park. We were very excited at the thought of going to see the lions. But to get to the lions’ place we had to go through the monkeys’ land first. And that was an unforgettable experience because they climbed all over the car, ate apples and bananas, and threw all kinds of things at us. They seemed very unfriendly.

Anyway, we went on our way to the lions’ place where we had to lock ourselves in the car as we knew lions could be dangerous. A lion came up very close to us. Then it was on the bonnet (车盖). It looked calm but we felt terrified. Aunt Emily, who isn’t very brave, started to call for help. The kids started crying. Only my brother, George, stayed cool. I sounded the horn (喇叭) but nobody heard us.

In the end a guard arrived in his car, and the lion just got off our car and started smelling the guard’s hand as if nothing was the matter.

Xiechi Lake, also known as Yuncheng Salt Lake in China’s Shanxi Province,     1     (become) popular on social media websites in the past few years.

Now, China wants to transform that online     2     (popular) into real-life tourism. “As the Chinese ‘Dead Sea’, floating here is     3     unforgettable experience, and one you can’t find anywhere else,” reads a tourism advertisement     4     (sponsor) by the Yuncheng Salt Lake Tourism Development Company. Yuncheng Salt Lake is a sulfate (硫酸盐) lake. “If the sulfate in your water is greater than the calcium (钙), all the calcium is used up,     5     leaves you with large amounts of sulfate and you have a sulfate lake,” explains geography professor Bernie Owen. Xiechi is also a “closed basin” lake,     6     (mean) it doesn’t flow out to a river or ocean, which explains how its salt content stays so high. It is possible for salt lakes to freeze over, although not as     7     (quick) as other lakes — after all, think about what happens when we spread salt over icy roads. Saltwater freezes at     8    (low) temperatures than fresh water.

In an effort     9     (boost) Xiechi Lake’s international profile, China is reportedly taking steps to get it recognized     10     a UNESCO World Heritage site.

4 . Four of the Best Science Museums in the World

Entering a world-class museum is like opening a door to another world. Your admission ticket is a passport to learning, culture,and fun.

California Academy of Sciences

The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco houses an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and natural history museum in one location. It’s home to a popular lecture series covering subjects as diverse as birding and engineering for grade-schoolers. In addition, it offers nightlife events for adults and it’s one of the museums where you can spend the night.

American Museum of National History

The American Museum of National History is famous for being the one of the best dinosaur museums in the world, but it is so much more than that. The museum also features a butterfly conservatory, an Alaska brown bear exhibit, and so much more. It also features a big screen for movies and a planetarium.

Shanghai Science and Technology Museum

The Shanghai Science and Technology Museum is devoted to popularizing science and making it more accessible. Permanent exhibits focus on the animal world, space, light, human beings and an interactive children’s playground. In addition, there’s an Imax Theatre along with activities like science shows and training camps.

Ontario Science Center

The Ontario Science Center in Toronto is one of the finest museums in Canada. Popular permanent exhibits include Kidspark where children can build their own roller coaster, play musical instruments, or blow big bubbles. Other exhibits are devoted to the human body, space, and Canadian forests. It features an Imax Omni dome theater, planetarium, and children’s camp.

5 . Have you ever dreamed of traveling to space? With many developments in space travel, you may soon be able to book a ticket.

Fly me to the moon

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, 46, has invited eight members of the public to join him for a trip around the moon with the help of Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.

The mission, called dearMoon, will take three days to fly to the moon, orbit and then spend three days returning. In addition to its historic first as a private lunar mission, the rocket’s flight path means it will go beyond the distance traveled by the US Apollo missions, Musk told CNBC, an American news channel. DearMoon is scheduled for 2023.

Living in space hotel

Instead of squeezing into a space cabin, how about enjoying your time in a hotel? The world’s first space hotel is due to start construction in 2025.

Developed by US company Orbital Assembly Corporation (OAC), the space station will be a large circular structure. It will rotate (旋转) to generate artificial gravity, similar to the level found on the surface of the moon, according to the Daily Mail. The hotel is expected to have restaurants, cinemas and rooms for up to 400 guests.

Short space trip

While some people may like to stay in space for a long time, others may prefer to simply have a taste. Tickets for a 90-minute journey have been on sale to the public since Feb 16. The first commercial tourist flights with Virgin Galactic, a private space tourism company founded by British businessman Richard Branson, are set for later this year.

The journey to the edge of space will begin with the spacecraft attached to a twin-fuselage (双机身) aircraft. At a certain altitude, the craft detaches (分离) from the jet and fires its engines. It then climbs to reach the edge of the atmosphere, according to The Independent.

The spaceship gracefully flips (翻转) while astronauts enjoy several minutes of out-of-scat weightlessness and breath-taking views of Earth from the spaceship’s 17 windows, according to the company.

7 . Find yourself at the doorway of any one of the countless temples or ancient buildings in China, and you may see an attractive but just piece of wall, only slightly larger than the entrance. It is Zhaobi, or spirit wall, which have a long history, with evidence dating the earliest examples at more than 3000 years old.

Zhaobi can be found outside the entrance of a variety of buildings, and during the western Zhou dynasty, they were constructed as a status (身份) symbol. They were used for only the highest members of society. Seeing Zhaobi outside a building would let passers-by know that this was the house of someone of extreme importance, while also serving the practical function of acting as a form of privacy by blocking the entrance from any prying (窥探的) eyes. With the passing of time, Zhaobi came to play a role in fengshui, a practice which focused on achieving harmony and balance in all things. As well as offering this spiritual protection, their location would allow energy to flow better.

Moving further forward in time, Zhaobi became a form of expression and creativity, with poetry, paintings and characters representing luck appearing on the walls. Recently many companies have adopted Zhaobi to practice the rules of fengshui, believing that such a structure surely can bring good luck and wealth to their business.

But what can be said for sure is that these attractive structures, like all the pieces of history, give us a picture of life at a particular time in history. Whether that is a physical show of someone’s position in society, an instrument for keeping energy and defending against evil spirits, or to tell the exceptional deeds of a family’s history, they stand as a true representation of the resilience (恢复力) and development of Chinese history.

10 . The Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM), located in the West Kowloon Cultural District of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, was established on June 22 and is scheduled to open to the public on July 2. More than 40,000 tickets were sold or reserved within eight hours on the first day of public sale, and all free visits on Wednesdays in July were fully booked.

The HKPM, not only adds to cultural atmosphere in the city, but also provides a new site for local residents and visitors to learn about the development of Chinese civilization and culture. More than 900 pieces of treasures from the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing will be put on display at the opening exhibitions. From paintings to ancient architectures, the exhibits span the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization, covering all categories of the collection of the Palace Museum, including 166 pieces of first-class cultural relics of the country. This will be the largest and highest-level cultural heritage exhibitions of the Palace Museum outside of the mainland since its establishment in 1925.

Prepare work for the exhibitions began in 2018, with the Palace Museum fielding a team of leading experts and scholars, associated with the manage team of the HKPM.

“It is a great thing to display the pieces of cultural relics in Hong Kong, which reflects the central government’s support to the development of Hong Kong’s cultural projects,” said Ng, adding that the exhibits from the Palace Museum will present a cultural feast to Hong Kong residents by telling them about the motherland’s long history and splendid culture.

“Promoting traditional Chinese culture is one of our important tasks,” said Betty Fung, chief executive officer of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority. She said the HKPM will actively push ahead with the publicity of the motherland’s culture and history after its opening, enhancing Hong Kong residents’ cultural confidence in the country, especially among youths.

Fung said that the HKPM will actively enhance cooperation with international museums, telling the world the stories of China, including the stories of Hong Kong.