1 . Have you ever felt the need to grab a pen and start writing your thoughts on paper? Words—beautiful and fascinating. But you know what is better than putting your imagination somewhere? In my case, to win the competition for the best novelist.

That was a small tournament organized by my school annually to _______ our creative writing and vivid imagination. Since I had a burning passion for _______, I decided to show my power. I thought no one could _______ me.

I finished a long story and e-mailed it. As I _______ the email every day, my eyes were wandering to _______ the line “Congratulations! It is a great pleasure to inform you that…” _______, no such thing came.

I was not accepted. I _______ my abilities. The next day at school, I tried my best to be _______, avoiding the usual contact. But in the corridor, I _______ Stacy Williams, my school rival. Could she be the ________? I started walking sneakily. In class, I was just looking out of the window at the ________ clouds which were a reflection of my soul.

Thankfully, a film that night—Forrest Gump lifted my ________. I wouldn’t let a stupid competition ________ my future. I could win on the next one or even at a better tournament. The important thing was to ________ my head and face my challenges without losing hope when everything seemed ________.

2 . Do you see a bird right now? Can you hear one chirping? If so, you might be getting a mental health boost. A study recently published in the journal Science found that being in the presence of birds made people feel more positive.

Andrea Mechelli, a psychologist at King’s College London, found himself studying the natural world accidentally. Initially he was searching for answers to why people who lived in cities seemed to tend to suffer mental illness, particularly psychosis. In 2015, he created the smartphone app Urban Mind to search for patterns in users’ environments. “Our first finding is that nature has a very powerful effect,” says Mechelli. He and his colleagues then wondered if some aspects of nature were more beneficial than others. They turned to birds for their ubiquity (普遍存在) in rural and urban environments.

Their latest study included 1,292 participants mainly in the United Kingdom and Europe. For two weeks, participants were prompted to fill out a questionnaire about their surrounding environment and their mental state three times a day. Mechelli performed a statistical analysis that found an obvious improvement in wellbeing when birds were present, even when eliminating other factors like the presence of trees or waterways. The mental health benefit was true both for people who disclosed a depression diagnosis and those without any diagnosed mental health conditions.

Peter James, an environmental health scientist at Harvard, would like to see more data. He found that environmental health studies like these lack diversity. Yet, a psychologist at Trent University in Canada, Lisa Nisbet says, “This kind of study helps us understand how people’s everyday experience with specific elements of nature, such as birds, can be restorative.”

Appreciating birds seems to be a promising avenue for nature-based health and wellbeing interventions. At Mechelli’s clinical practice in London, he focuses on early intervention therapies. He suggests his patients go for walks to observe the trees and plants growing in the city, and the bird fluttering by from branch to branch. “It has no side effects,” he says. “It’s something they could try, and they have nothing to lose.”

4 . Sandoval, who comes from Los Angeles, has traveled and filmed in over 50 countries across seven continents and now lives in China. “In 2008, tired of my studio work in the U.S, I came to China, thinking I would be here one or two years, but it has turned out to be 16 years!” he said. He hopes his photographs will inspire others to embark on adventures as well.

Sandoval is a professional photographer and learned commercial photography at what was then the Brooks Institute of Photography. With the hope of trying something different for himself, he went to Chengdu in Southwest China to live in October 2008 and has traveled throughout the country since then.

In the beginning, he did editorial work for magazines both in and outside Sichuan, such as Vogue. Then he worked with the Sichuan tourism department to produce travel brochures, and also on ad campaigns for destinations for corporate companies.

To him, Chengdu is the capital of a laid-back lifestyle. He was delighted to see that residents, dressed stylishly or comfortably, strolled in the streets “as slowly as snails”. Almost a “walking encyclopedia” of Chengdu, Sandoval covered every corner of Chengdu and recorded Chengduese and their lives with his camera, listening to the sound of mahjong tiles being shuffled and music from traditional stringed instruments.

He also goes from place to place with his heavy travel kit. The varied culture and vast, beautiful land has kept him in China much longer than he had planned in the beginning. He remembers a wide range of adventures like exploring a local vineyard and local wine in Yinchuan City, a riding performance by a Mongolian ethnic group in the Shuidonggou Horse Riding Show, and then the totally different experience of visiting the Hainan Free Trade Port in the south.

He thinks he has done a lot in “this beautiful and vast country” with his “travel photos”. “I try to show people the beauty of where I go. I try to inspire them to travel and go to places. I’m hoping to do more international work,” he said.

5 . Did you grow up in one culture, your parents came from another, and you are now living in a totally different country?     1    

The term “third-culture kids” was invented in the 1960s by U.S. sociologist Dr. Ruth Hill Useem. She first encountered this phenomenon when she researched North American children living in India.     2     Caught between two cultures, they form their own. While growing up as third-culture kids may sound challenging, these children often benefit from their multicultural background. In general, they often reach excellent academic results.     3    

Ginny, aged 20, was born in the U.K. Since her early childhood, she had lived abroad moving around with her parents every few years, before she returned to the U.K. to study. When returning to the U.K. to go to university, she realized she had benefited a lot from her years overseas.     4     While many other undergrads seemed unable to cope on their college life, she was easy to adjust to it.

Yet being a third-culture kid is not always easy. In fact, many hardships may arise from this phenomenon. A third-culture kid may not be able to adapt themselves completely to their new surroundings as expected.     5     Besides, when they return home, the home country can prove to be more foreign than anything they came across before. The peer group they face does not match the idealized image children have of “home”. This often makes it hard for them to form their own identity.

As a part of the growing “culture”, TCKs may find it a great challenge for them to feel at home in many places.

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Experience the best of the best of Nashville’s finest attractions, cruises, and more! You and your loved ones are bound to have an awesome time with these fun activities and five nights of lodging.

8 . About a decade ago, wearing hanfu, a traditional style of clothing worn by China’s Han ethnic group, was considered more of a hobby, with a relatively small number of Chinese individuals participating in the trend. Currently, there is a notable shift as young consumers in China are urging brands to acknowledge their heritage and adapt to it to influence the market. The hanfu movement rather suits this rhetoric, advocating cultural autonomy infused with a touch of patriotism.

Many Chinese Gen Zs have come to realize that fashion is not exclusive to Western styles; they have also recognized the allure and appeal of their own traditional garments. Cultural confidence has played a significant role in popularizing these traditional clothing choices.

Jun Baoyuan, a 24-year-old graduate from the Beijing Institute of Technology, said that people who develop an interest in hanfu will in turn learn more about the traditional skills rooted in Chinese culture, including cloth weaving and traditional jewelry handicrafts. She also noted that many of her close friends today had entered her life as a result of their shared passion for hanfu. Jun often shares her hanfu-clad adventures on Douyin, where she has gathered a 60,000-strong following.

As her reputation as a high-flying hanfu model grew, she started collaborating with museums in China and participating in a range of events. But Jun also warned that with the popularity of hanfu events and the rising number of enthusiasts who want to join the movement, some merchants have fueled unfair competition by selling poor-quality hanfu garments at high prices. These days, making sure you get your money’s worth requires a good deal of knowledge.

The hanfu movement is among the most significant currents in the contemporary young Chinese cultural narrative. They have brought a sense of pride and Chinese aesthetics to social media, where overseas Chinese, too, can express their heritage. Psychologically and culturally, the hanfu movement is playing a major role in shaping the new generation of young Chinese, blending modernity with tradition. It is nothing short of remarkable to see China’s Gen Zs coming together to embrace and celebrate their customs. Although the future path of the hanfu movement has yet to unveil itself, it’s surely a phenomenon worth monitoring. The revival of Chinese culture has gained force and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.