1 . Make the most of the pleasant weather and enjoy the best walk of the year with friends and family. Use your 2 for 1 Entry in some of our favorite landscape gardens for a memorable day out.

Painswick Rococo Garden

Find beauty and quietness at the UK's only complete surviving Rococo Garden. Discover fanciful garden flowers, woodland walks, and beautifully framed (镶框) views across the valley. Dogs on short leads are permitted and the shop offers a range of seasonal and local produce.

Book at rococogarden.org.uk.

Open: closed 1-25 March, open 26-31 March, 10 am-4 pm, last entry 2:30 pm.

Nymans Garden

Walk down Spring Walk packed with seasonal flowers and pleasant smells, and enjoy the hedge (树篱) topped with frost. Routes include those with plenty of level paths to follow around the garden. Dogs are welcome every day from 1:30 pm, with a festive treat provided.

Book at nationaltrust.org.uk/ nymans.

Open: daily except 24-25 March, 10 am-4 pm.

Ventnor Botanic Garden

Even in early spring, there are typically over 200 varieties of plants to be seen flowering as you explore the 27 acres. Enjoy access to the coastal path and routes accessible for wheelchairs, and then warm up with coffee milk in the cafe afterwards.

Book at botanic.co.uk.

Open: daily except 25 March, 9 am-4 pm.

Gibside Garden

Enjoy walking paths at this Georgian landscape garden, featuring plenty of wildlife. Follow the winding river and turning valley for fantastic views. up with hot chocolate and delicious biscuits in the second-hand bookshop.

Book at nationaltrust.org.uk/gibside.

Open: daily except 24 and 25 March, 10 am-4 pm.

2 . There are three things you can watch forever: Instagram feeds, YouTube videos and water. Among them, water is definitely something no one argues about, and there are many unusual water attractions that you can find around the world.

Bangkok Floating Markets

There are many floating markets where goods are sold from boats. While modern markets are more popular, floating markets still are a huge attraction for local tourism. Any visitors can purchase local foods and traditional handcrafted (手工的) souvenirs. Bargaining is a part of experience. So, start low and get the price you are ready to pay.

Bregenzer Festspiele

The Bregenz Festival is held every year from July to August in Vorarlberg. It has the world’s largest stage on the water. The performances are different every year but they are usually united by one theme. The decorations are very impressive and are worth seeing.

Marina Bay Stadium

This stadium was built as a temporary solution while Singapore National Stadium was rebuilt. The stadium was used for the opening and closing ceremonies during 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. It was a floating platform where the Formula One Grand Prix event was successfully held.

Archipelago Cinema

Archipelago Cinema is probably one of the world’s most scenic open-air cinemas that floats in the middle of a lake. The cinema was designed by German architect Ole Scheeren, who built it using techniques popular among local people. This cinema stage was built specially for the film festival Film on the Rocks Yao Noi.

3 . Four winter wonderlands for cold-weather getaways

◆ JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka

Beat any holiday stress with the new HydroSpa opening at Muskoka’s JW Marriott on Nov. 1. The outdoor water entertainment will be open year-round, offering multiple ways to relax including sea-salt floating pools and hot bathtubs.

Stays from $349 / night

◆ Old Stone Inn Boutique Hotel

This historic inn in Niagara Falls offers multiple ways to relax. There’s Winterfest, meals enjoyed in dining domes(穹顶)housed in the inn’s private square, and the Alpine Club offering roasted nuts and wine around a fire pit. The property will host its annual holiday market on Nov. 26.

Stays from $249 / night

◆ Dromoland Castle

If you’re going to go big—and further away—for New Year’s, you may as well go black tie. This grand estate in western Ireland is offering a three - night celebration package, beginning either Dec. 30 or 31. The event on New Year’s Eve includes a cocktail reception and six-course dinner. Guests will have access to various activities on the property’s 450 acres including hunting and farming.

Stays from $2,051 / night

◆ St. Regis Aspen

Along with access to many ski options, the hotel’s guests can expect family-friendly fun during the week leading up to Dec. 25. The workshop here is a craft room where attendees can make everything from toys to gifts by hand. Additional sessions cover winter cooking and house decorating.

Stays from US $899 / night

The Jiangsu countryside stretching between the cities of Suzhou and Shanghai is home to a lot of small beautiful water towns, many of which     1     (locate) along the Grand Canal, an artificial canal connecting Hangzhou to Beijing with the aim of bringing supplies of goods to the imperial capital.

One of these towns is Tongli, which is easily     2     (access) to tourists from the nearby city of Suzhou.     3     (build) in the Song Dynasty, the town offers pleasant views and landscapes of traditional China, characterized by picturesque canals crossed by arch bridges and whitewashed houses that overlook the water.

Walking along the narrow alleys(巷), you can admire     4     interesting number of well-preserved traditional houses, temples and gardens. The atmosphere is     5    (exceptional) peaceful compared to most popular sites that are ruined by mass tourism and commercialization. Yes, Tongli is home to a great many souvenir shops and local products, but what amazed me was     6     well the town is preserved despite being open to tourism: a good balance       7     commercial activities and local life. So in spite of its     8     (popular), Tongli maintains a quiet, laid—back feeling, making it an ideal destination for visitors who seek peace and leisure.

I     9     (take) scores of pictures while touring Tongli, which I hope may inspire travelers to add this pretty water town to their trips. My impression of Tongli is so positive that I’ve been meaning     10     (go) back with my family for their first visit to China.

5 . My husband and I just spent a week in Paris.    1    So the first thing we did was rent a fantastically expensive sixth-floor apartment the size of a cupboard. It was so tiny that we had to leave our suitcases in the hallway.

The place wasn’t entirely authentic, though. Unlike a normal Parisian apartment, the plumbing (水管) worked.     2    Our building even had a tiny lift with a female voice that said, “Ouverture des portes,” in perfect French. That is the only French phrase I mastered, and it’s a shame I don’t have much use for it.

Parisians are different from you and me. They never look lazy or untidy. As someone noted in this paper a couple of weeks ago, they eat great food and never gain weight.     3     French strawberries do not taste like cardboard. Instead, they explode in your mouth like little flavor bombs.

    4     On our first morning in Paris, I went around the corner to the food market to pick up some groceries. I bought a handful of perfectly ripe small strawberries and a little sweet melon. My husband and I agreed they were the best fruit we had ever eaten. But they cost $18!

In France, quality of life is much more important than efficiency.

You can tell this by cafés life. French cafés are always crowded.    5    When do these people work? The French take their 35-hour workweek seriously — so seriously that some labor unions recently struck a deal with a group of companies limiting the number of hours that independent contractors can be on call.

The UNESCO Global Geo park (地质公园)consists of six local communities, each with their own featured     1    (attraction) ranging from mini farms to geological gardens. These communities were looking for ways to develop sustainable geotourism in this rural area.

Very recently, the Geo park acquired an     2    ( abandon) church building and will transform it into a new Geo park Centre    3     will serve not only as a community and visitor centre,but also offer a range of services and facilities. It is intended that such services andfacilities will contribute to the long term     4    ( finance) sustainability of the Geo park and create sustainable employment opportunities.

As an outdoor laboratory for local schools,the Geo park focuses on    5    fun, interactive, discovery learning style, aiming to build pride in the communities. They also work with universities    6    adult education centers covering a wide range of subjects including local geology,archaeology and architecture. The geological garden serves    7    (explain) key events in the earth's history ( creature evolution, climate change, plate structure theory etc. ), and     8    (be) a popular picnic spot. They use kite photography, geophysical surveys and seismometers (地震仪)to make learning     9    ( excite). The new Geo park Centre     10    (annual) provides hands-on learning as well as specialist talks and demonstrations.