2 . National parks are an excellent way to explore all the beauty that the world has to offer: whether it’s endangered species, erupting volcanoes and snowy mountains, or rainforests and lakes. Of the thousands of national parks that exist in the world, these are the ones that should be on everyone’s bucket list.

Contrary (相反) to the popular link of national parks with the wilderness, it is filled with winding valleys, hills and villages where over 24,000 people live and work. Visitors can walk through grassland, visit waterfalls or explore underground caves, but Yorkshire Dales is also home to several food shops, and the park hosts cheese festivals and farmers markets regularly, so it’s best to go hungry.

It is a delight for those who like a bit of history mixed with the biodiversity of national parks. While it houses thousands of species of wildlife, there’s more to the national park than that.

It is surrounded by striking natural beauty and can be explored by land. But the river national park, as the name suggests, is best explored through leisurely boat rides that take visitors through many ancient towns that come along the way of the river.

Here’s a surprising fact: The whole of Vatnajökull National Park makes up 14% of Iceland’s territory! The park is usually open for hikes around the glaciers; boat rides through glacier lakes, and tours that take visitors through the park’s many ice caves, waterfalls, and icebergs. Vatnajökull is also where two of Iceland’s most active volcanoes are located.

3 . Feeling hungry? Well, get your chopsticks ready! Ho Chi Minh City Food Tours are the tastiest way to travel around the city.

Big eat & Small seat

This afternoon food tour by motorbike is focused on family-run local restaurants. These places are often small and tight with little stools. This is a tour we recommend for travelers that want to be thrown into the city’s delicious street food. It lasts from 1 pm to 5 pm at $65 per person.

A taste of Vietnam

This tour is absolutely comfortable for everyone with indoor seating and atmosphere. The menu is diverse, featuring some hands-on cooking experience and a bowl of whole crab soup that you can only find in Ho Chi Minh City. It lasts from 6 pm to 10 pm at $73 per person.

Chef’s tour

The concept for Chef’s tour is simple: We will drive you from location to location to try some of our favorite street eats in the city while adjusting the menu as much as possible to meet your tastes and personality. It lasts from 5 pm to 10 pm at $123 per person.

Street food stroll

This tour will leave you happy, full, and filled with a new appreciation for our history and culture. We will eat delicious street food while exploring the French architecture and the unique culture in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City’s District Three. A bit different from other tours, we will not use any taxi or motorbike to get from place to place. The walk tour lasts from 5 pm to 9 pm at $38 per person.

Note: During all the above tours, prices take in all food and drinks and we will also take digital photos during the trip that we send to you the next day by email.

4 . Cities are taking steps to support wildlife populations and educate citizens about the importance of the environment. Here are four of the most wildlife-friendly cities in the United States.

Austin, Texas

Austin, the capital of Texas, earns the rank as the top city for wildlife in large part due to its work to help improve declining monarch butterfly populations. Austin sits within the main migration pattern of the monarch, which means that monarch butterflies pass through it twice annually. Austin also leads all US cities with 2,616 certified (经认证的)wildlife habitats.

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta secures the second-place ranking thanks to its Climate Action Plan, which aims to expand on the 3,000 acres of parks that the city already manages. Already classified by the US Forest Service as one of the most forested urban centers in the country, Atlanta also calls fbr planting more trees and creating more green spaces based on its climate plan. Six neighborhoods in Atlanta have been designated (指定)as Community Wildlife Habitats. Put together, these areas of vegetation can help reduce the urban heat island effect in the city.

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is home to 489 parks that span 6,441 acres, including 2,500 acres of forested public land. The city’s largest park, Discovery Park, covers 534 acres and serves as an important protected area fbr birds and marine animals. Due to the amount of forested land in Seattle, the researchers use the city to study how urban environments can be designed to support wildlife. The Seattle Urban Project enlists the community to report wildlife sightings, which helps to demonstrate how and where flesh-eating mammals can coexist with humans.

Chula Vista, California

Chula Vista, a city in southern California, ranks high on the list due to its efforts to combat water use issues. The city’s NatureScape Program encourages citizens to replace lawns with gardens of native plants that attract pollinators (传粉昆虫)and conserve water. The city has also formed the CLEAN group, a partnership between the government, businesses and community groups designed to address environmental issues.

The giant panda Hua Hua attracted 264,000 visitors to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding,     1     was the second most popular tourist destination in China during the May Day holidays, according to local media reports.

He Hua (nicknamed Hua Hua)     2     (be) three years old soon and has won the hearts of Chinese people due     3     her gentle temperament(性格) and her rare inability to climb trees. She is also     4     (difference) from other giant pandas because of her white fur, rather than the more common beige(米色的) color, and her slightly fat and cute appearance,     5     (make) her highly recognizable.

Hua Hua increased ticket sales, with all 180,000 tickets     6     (sell) out for the first three days of this year’s May Day holidays. There were so many fans     7     the park had to set Hua Hua’s viewing time limit to only three minutes. “We made this trip     8    (special) for Hua Hua,” said a tourist. “We plan to stay at the base all day just to see     9     giant pandas and we plan to continue coming here even tomorrow,” he added.

Panda-related souvenirs such as headbands, dolls, school bags and decorative rings in     10     (store) at the base and in other parts of Chengdu have become popular.

In China’s northwestern Xinjiang, there are many different landscapes and remarkable views. Deep in its northern dense forest, there is an     1    (amazing) beautiful lake. The color of the lake changes     2     the season, light, and temperature difference between morning and evening.

The Kanas Lake, the second largest deep-water lake in China, has a water     3     (deep) of 190 meters. Perhaps it’s the fear of     4     lies below the surface that has stirred up legends of a lake monster.

Since the late 1980s, there     5     (be) numerous sightings of the creature in the lake. It is said that horses drinking by the lake were once     6    (force) into the water by the monster. Many tourists come all way to the Kanas Lake,     7     (hope) to catch a glimpse of the marine creature.

Most scientists believe the so-called water monster is freshwater salmon living deep below the surface, some of which can grow to nearly two meters long. They can be fierce and secretive,     8     they occasionally come out from the water and make waves. The warm and humid Atlantic air     9    (current) travel over 6,900 kilometers of land into the Altay Mountains, and bring more than 600 mm of rain every year, nurturing the most     10     (mystery) Siberian taiga forest in China. They grow and multiply by the Kanas Lake, carrying their life on from generation to generation.

8 . Shortly after I graduated from college, I moved to a new state to start a full-time job. One day at work, I found myself wanting to go traveling. Once I’d saved up enough money, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to travel by myself for the first time in my life. So I quickly started doing research on where I’d like to go.

I had never traveled alone before, so I decided to sign up for a guided group that was going to Thailand. This gave me a sense of security (安全). It felt like a great way not only to try being alone and meeting strangers but also doing something that sounded really fun for two weeks.

The Thailand trip forced me out of so many comfort zones (舒适区) that ended up being one of the big turning points of my life. The time I spent in Thailand finding my way around airports and taxis alone, meeting a group of strangers, and doing rock climbing with them in often remote parts of the country, ended up being one of the greatest experiences of my life. Up until this point I had always been shy and very careful to avoid danger and mistakes, but this travel experience inspired me to become different. It showed me a brave, strong, and independent side of myself that went on to influence my life greatly when I returned home.

When I got back, I pretty much dedicated my life to spending as much time as possible doing activities like climbing, hiking, or backpacking especially things that I once thought I wasn’t “capable of” or was “too scared of Today, about 6 years later, I’m an outdoor empowerment coach and backpacking educator.

My trip to Thailand was just what I needed to make that change. It showed me what was possible. It changed the path of my life.