1 . Camping tips: Which overnight wilderness experience is right for you?

If you’re an experienced backpacker, read no further. This article is for camping rookies, those who have never slept beneath the stars or haven’t pitched a tent since their youth but are seriously thinking about overnighting in the wilderness.

Car camping

At its most basic, car camping involves packing a tent, sleeping bag, fold-up chair, cooler and camp stove into your vehicle and staying at a drive-up campground. Nearly every national park, and many state and county parks and private facilities, offer drive-up campgrounds with restrooms, potable water, fire rings or pits, and maybe even hot showers. So there are lots of choices.

The downside of car camping is the fact that these campgrounds are often packed with other campers. Not a lot of privacy, they can be noisy, and possibly hinder your quest of communing with nature.

Backpacking

No vehicle required; just your feet and a good pair of hiking boots or shoes to get you to the next overnight spot. A multi-day hiking trip is without doubt the most immersive way to experience the great outdoors.

Different from maybe car camping, it requires the least expense and equipment. All you really need are a backpack, sleeping bag, water bottle, small first-aid kit, enough food to last the entire travel. It can be done just about anywhere on the planet.

Boat Camping

While this does involve owning or renting a watercraft or using a ferry or water taxi service to reach the overnight site, camping via canoe, kayak, raft or boat offers a similar get-away-from-it-all adventure as backpacking.

Experienced paddlers and boaters usually prefer to camp on their own along a secluded shoreline. But many adventure or wilderness outfitters offer guided trips that can last anywhere from a couple of days to two or three weeks. With a boat, you can sometimes camp places that not even backpackers can reach.

If you have not heard of Yangshi Lei, the     1    (honour) name of the Lei family responsible for imperial architecture during the Qing Dynasty, then you have missed an important detail about the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and Yuanmingyuan Garden.

All the above great cultural relics and popular tourist attractions have been included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List,     2     surprisingly enough, they are all designed by the Lei family.     3     (represent) the great achievements of science and technology in ancient China, their architectural practice covered a wide range of city planning, imperial palaces, gardens, temples, princes’ residences and schools.

Yangshi    4     (refer) to architect or architecture in Chinese. Yangshifang, the then government authority similar to the National Architecture Design Institute today, was in charge of site     5     (select), design and construction of imperial architectures.

    6     (amaze), eight generations of the Lei family were appointed director of Yangshifang consecutively from 1662 to 1911.

With so many architectural    7     (work) on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Lei Family is    8     unique phenomenon in the architectural history throughout the world. Apart from the grand architectures, China has another treasure left by the Lei family - design drafts. In the National Library of China alone, there     9     (be) up to 20,000 architectural design drafts, each of     10     plays an important role in the research of the history of the Qing Dynasty and how architecture developed at the time.

6 . Do you know how to be a proud traveller? The following can tell you.

Nervousness is typical of travellers. It does not matter whether the person travels once a year or far more frequently.    1    This happens simply because we can’t predict the future event that may occur during the trip.

To plan trips is an exciting activity; however, once you have planned everything, get ready to break all your plans in case that things go wrong or not the way you expected them to go!

    3    Travellers are always ready to make new friends.

People travel for a variety of reasons. People who stay in a foreign country need to challenge themselves in a variety of ways.     4    

While travelling be prepared to see the real living around the globe. You will see that there are people who struggle to survive.     5    Be grateful for being able to travel since travelling is something only the lucky can afford.

9 . The biggest risk I’ve ever taken was quitting my job and biking alone across western China.     1     So it was a huge physical challenge but I got stronger every day, and eventually, I could easily bike for eight hours each day.

One of the best parts of the whole experience was the people. I met people from across China and once got to attend a Tibetan wedding-something I never thought I would do.     2     One time I even met a group of Chinese men traveling by motorcycle, who invited me to cook fish that they caught in the lake over a fire with wood. Another instance was when I met a group of cyclists. They were in their 60s and 70s and still cycling better than I was.     3    

The people were some of the best parts of the trip, but mostly each day, I was alone with nature. Throughout the rolling hills and the flowing streams, western China is home to some of the most amazing scenery in the world.       4     With thick forests, icy glaciers, and peaceful lakes, there is so much to see in China.

    5     I got to taste local snacks in every place I went. There are so many different options! My favorite was the cooking of Sichuan, a province known for its hot flavors and interesting dishes. No matter how much I ate, I never got sick of having different Chinese foods.

It was indeed an experience I will never forget. If anyone has an interest in traveling, I would highly recommend going by bicycle!