Last December my mother and I     1     (fly) to London. The first thing we did was to go on a bus sightseeing tour.

This is the best way to see all the sights and learn all about the history of a city. By the time the tour was over it was dark. The Christmas lights were very colorful. And     2     really impressed me was how so many people made their way home through the heavy traffic on bicycles. I was looking forward to spending the next day in Oxford Street with all its     3     (amaze) shops. And what     4     experience that was! We bought a ticket for the underground and could go everywhere very quickly.

We spent all morning     5     (admire) the Christmas displays inside the shops and out in the streets. Then we went to a wax museum     6     (call) Madame Tussauds (杜莎夫人蜡像馆),     7     had a lot of wax figures of famous people. My mother took a picture of me     8     (stand) between Prince Charles and Prince Harry. From there we took a taxi to Buckingham Palace, the home of the two princes, to watch The Changing of the Guard but     9     (unfortunate) we couldn’t really see well as there were thousands of tourists waiting     10     (take) photos of the ceremony.

2 . William Lindesay, a famous Great Wall expert and conservationist, and his wife Wu Qi have traveled the globe by the back paths, providing their sons with a unique growing environment. Sun hats, backpacks and sneakers (运动鞋)—these are the day-to-day must-haves for the family.

Most of their trips seem far from relaxing—cultural study in the hot and dry desert, a 53-kilometer hiking tour of New Zealand, a one-day climb to three English mountaintops and a six-day train ride from Beijing to Moscow.

Many assume the family must be wealthy and can afford their global travel, but they are not. Lindesay says they just choose to spend money on travel and eschew pricey hotels and restaurants where possible. Lindesay mentions the trip to Moscow as an example. Instead of taking a taxi from the railway station to the hotel, they took the subway. “We crossed the city for saving money, communicated with local people, and saw they are people just like us, everywhere. We arrived at our destination feeling comfortable.”

However, their journeys, which can last weeks or months, have sometimes been inconsistent with their children’s schooling. Wu remembers once Lindesay let their elder son ask for leave so that they could go to New York for a 45-day lecture tour. Therefore the son missed his final exam. Things like that bother the family all the time.

Lindesay attaches great importance to learning out of the classroom, saying that children might score well on school tests, but traveling outside, in distant lands with different languages, cultures, and political structures, is the real test. “You can only get streetwise on the street. You can only get worldly-wise when seeing the world,” he says.

3 . China is one of the world’s ancient civilizations and has the earliest outstanding bronze casting technology. Here we’ve created a list of 4 museums where you can gain an in-depth understanding of Chinese bronze.

Sanxingdui Museum

Address: Sanxingdui Ruin Site, 133 Xian Road, Guanghan, Deyang, Sichuan province

Hours: Comprehensive Gallery (the first exhibition hall): 8:30-18:00; Bronze Gallery (the second exhibition hall): 8:30-18:30. Last tickets sold at 17:00. Closed on the morning of Chinese New Year’s Eve

Ticket booking: 0838-5651526

General admission: Gallery ticket 80 yuan

Note: Children shorter than 1.2m (including 1.2m) can visit the gallery free of charge. The ticket must be used on the day it is sold and authorizes one visit to each gallery.

National Museum of China

Address: East side of Tian’anmen Square, Dongcheng district, Beijing

Hours: 8:30-17:00 (no entry after 16:30)

General admission: Free (passport required for entry), Closed Mondays (except for national holidays)

E-mail: webmaster@chnmuseum.cn

Shanghai Museum

Address: 201 Renmin Avenue, Huangpu district, Shanghai

Hours: 9:00-17:00 (no entry after 16:00), Closed Mondays (except for national holidays)

E-mail: webmaster@shanghai-museum.org

General admission: free (a max of 8, 000 admitted daily)

Hunan Museum

Address: 50 Dongfeng Road, Changsha, Hunan province

Hours:   9:00-17:00 (no entry after 16:00), Closed Mondays (except for national holidays) and the eve of Chinese New Year

Tel: (+86-731) 8415833, 84475933

E-mail: web@hnmuseum.com

General admission: Free (passport required for entry)

4 . Fall is one of the absolute best times to go camping. Not only is the summer heat quickly fading from memory, but the landscapes are painted with vibrant colors as the leaves make their annual change from green to gold, orange, and red. If you’re planning a camping trip this autumn, we have some suggestions on where you should go, no matter which part of the country you live in.

Acadia National Park, Maine

Fall comes early to Acadia National Park, with the leaves beginning to change color in early September. Still, the park is one of the best places to set up camp in the autumn, offering around one hundred sites for campers. But, if you want to experience autumn in Maine at its finest, book a spot in the Blackwoods Campground.

Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee

The main attraction at Tennessee’s Fall Creek Falls State Park is its waterfall. But the park has amazing options for campers too, including more than 220 campsites spread out across five different areas in various parts of the 26,000 acre landscape.

Carson National Forest, New Mexico

Home to New Mexico’s highest mountain, Carson National Forest offers visitors plenty of surprises, providing 80 safe campsites. The forest features a 16-mile long hiking trail and is home to elk, bear, big horn sheep, and other large creatures.

Gunnison National Forest, Colorado

With plenty of wild backcountry to explore, thousands of trails to wander, and some of the best fall colors found anywhere on the planet, Gunnison National Forest is a paradise for campers. The region has 56 designated campsites, allowing visitors to choose where to set up camp based on their favorite outdoor settings.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB), the     1     (eight) wonder of the 21st century, opened     2     the morning of October 24th, 2018. The bridge links three areas, making     3     much more convenient to travel from one to another. Since opening, the three-hour drive between Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao     4     (shorten) to 30 minutes. 

The project involved over 400 new patents, broke seven world records, and featured     5     (independent) developed key techniques and design. After     6     8-year struggle, the success of the HZMB achieves     7     several generations have been dreaming of, and amazes the whole world with its demonstration of perfect skills and high-level Chinese standards. The bridge is intended to be     8     (rely) for more than 120 years. From the Belt and Road Initiative to “Created in China”, there is always a group of people     9     (provide) strong technical support for each of the country’s huge projects. From the beginning in December 2009 to the day of the official opening, all     10     (walk) of life made great contributions to the design and construction of the HZMB, contributing “Wisdom of China”.

Qingdao International Beer Festival has become a major event in the beautiful city. The first festival took place in 1991. It is now held once a year from the end of July to the end of August,     1     (last) for about one month. Qingdao is the     2     (large) beer production base in China and the festival provides a great chance     3     (show) the city’s unique characteristics.     4     a history of over 30 years, Qingdao International Beer Festival is a nationally     5     (recognize) event, and combines together tourism, culture and sports. As one of the most important     6     (festival) of China, it has a worldwide reputation and attracts millions of people to take part every year. More than 100 brands from all over the world     7     (join) in the event over the past 16 years successfully. Every year daily performances are given at the Beer Town’s Center Theatre,     8     colorful fountains, hi-tech laser shows and dramatic audio effects excite audiences. Whether walking on the roads, shopping in the local stores     9     even catching a ride in a taxi, you will constantly hear people talking about the festival.     10     (obvious), after 16 years of development, the festival has become part of local people’s daily lives.