4 . Virtual reality is quickly becoming the new technological frontier. Tech companies everywhere seem to be racing to get their foot in the VR door. However, virtual reality has a set of challenges and hurdles that it must overcome in order to work well. It should be noted that VR is heavily dependent on being very fast, very accurate and very good-looking. If it isn’t, the viewer will feel motion sick or disconnected from the world that VR is trying to create.

Now that we can actually build VR headsets that begin to meet these requirements, we are seeing a rising interest in VR. As it rises, so does the interest in creating new media to be experienced in using virtual reality. Journalism is a medium built on relevance. Journalists should always be finding new ways to tell stories and deliver content. It is a goldmine for storytelling. What better ways to tell a story to someone than to put them right in the center of it?

Virtual reality is a powerful tool for journalists. The consumer isn’t just reading or watching something play out; they’re experiencing it. The immersive nature of VR allows for people to connect with the subject matter on a much deeper level than just reading about it. The experience is emotional, speaking more to our instinct than our intellect. The possibilities for storytelling here are legion, and any storyteller wanting to do something more interesting than their peers should surely be considering the sheer power of VR.

The question of virtual reality, though, is not how powerful it is. That is immediately apparent. The question of VR is one of viability and availability. Telling stories must be easy to do, and access to those stories must be readily available. This is the biggest challenge that VR faces. If the tools to tell a story with VR aren’t easy to pick up and learn, VR will fail. If VR technology isn’t both top-of-the-line and affordable, VR will fail.

Accessibility was one concern for Thomas Hallaq, assistant professor of journalism and mass communications, who said that current VR technology, is pretty exclusive right now. Despite that, he said he doesn’t think the exclusivity of this technology will be a problem in the long run.

“I think it’s very promising,” Hallaq said. “We’re seeing more technology become accessible, and more people having access to that technology. Just look at smartphones.” Like radio, TV and the Internet before it, virtual reality will change the way we tell stories.

5 . Research shows that isolation (隔绝) is bad for us and associated with certain diseases including depression, high blood pressure and heart disease. Yet teenagers seek isolation by using the device of our times-a screen, screens of all kinds. However, in whatever form, screens are addictive, and addictive from an early age. Research has shown that given the chance, six-month-old babies prefer screens to real human faces.

Hand in hand with this addiction to screens, we are seeing an explosion of teenage mental health problems. Social media claims to be inclusive (包容), keeping you connected. But it’s not. It isolates you from real people. Screens have even been described as being poisonous for teenagers.

Psychologist Jean Twenge, a professor at San Diego State University, believes today’s teenagers are “on the edge” of a major mental health crisis and requests, “do anything that doesn’t involve a screen”. The problem is, she claims, children born between 1995 and 2012 have grown up with a smart phone in their hands, and it has changed so many aspects of their lives. The number of teenagers who actually see their friends frequently has dropped by more than 40% since 2000. In 2015, only 56% of 17-year-old went on a date, down from 85%. Modern teenagers are slower to learn to drive, or earn money and spend more time at home. They’re “on their phone, in their room, alone and often depressed”, she says.

Some critics (评论家), however, say we should encourage our children to spend more time online. Robert Hannigan, former director of GCHQ, said in August that Britain is badly short of engineers and computer scientists, and urged children to develop cyber skill to compete in the digital economy.

I’m not the first to say that social media is inferior to real human contact, and harms mental health. Studies show teens who spend three hours a day online are 35% more likely to suicide (自杀). The suicide rate among girls aged 12 to 14 has more than doubled in a decade.

Recently a new survey indicates young people in China much prefer     1     (make) fresh food rather than buy prepared food. Mei Lin, for example, a 22-year-old college graduate from Anhui,     2     (stop) ordering take-away food for nearly 3 years. She often goes jogging in the evening as well as playing tennis at the weekend     3     (keep) her fit, in addition to     4     (exercise) for a marathon to be held in Xiamen in the next spring. She believes her fresh food choices help her stay fit and active.

But the trend isn’t one     5     only women are taking up. Su Bo, a 26-year-old employee, has a demanding job in Shenzhen. He says that he has given up eating packaged meals except when he’s travelling for work. As a computer programmer, Su Bo thinks that it’s a matter of wanting to be healthy and     6     (energy). For him having a sharp mind and strong body meant cooking his own vegetables, eating less meat, and carrying fruit to work for lunch. Like Mei Lin, Su Bo recommended that eating healthy food     7     (be) helpful to our fitness routine.

When     8     (ask) whether their eating habits are common among their age group, both Mei Lin and Su Bo say they are.     9    , it’s not clear whether this food trend will     10     (adopt) by other young Chinese people. Are Mei Lin and Su Bo unique or are they setting a new trend? It’s too early to say.

9 . Going against the trend of going to well-known yet crowded tourist destinations on vacation, a growing number of holidaymakers in China are spending their holidays at less-known places to look for unique and relaxed holiday experiences. “Reverse tourism” (反向旅游) has appeared as a new trend among young holidaymakers in China.

During the weeklong public holiday, which ended on Oct 7, large numbers of vacationers, especially youth who long to escape their busy city lives, avoid popular holiday destinations in order to get off the beaten track and enjoy some peace and quietness.

According to data from online travel agency Qunar, the number of rooms booked at hotels in less-traveled cities during the holiday was up 30 percent year-on-year. Bookings for four and five-star hotels in less-traveled places, including Linxia in Gansu province and Shizuishan in Ningxia, all increased at least 10 times from the same period of 2021. Even 12.5 percent of youth who normally have little time for themselves simply had a time in a hotel to make the much-awaited holiday more relaxing.

Besides crowds, some vacationers chose less-traveled places to save on the cost of trips to popular destinations, which often involve expensive tickets, meals and hotel stays. What’s more, less-known attractions are able to offer more natural experiences, according to social media posts. And unlike popular destinations, some undeveloped places with little online attention can offer more surprises.

Jiang Han, a senior researcher at the Beijing-based public policy think tank Pangoal (盘古智库), said that reverse tourism will become one of the future directions for the market and is an opportunity for growth which can match the camping economy.

10 . Under normal situations, falling asleep during a paid tour is a waste of money or an offense to your guide. But that’s not the case with this new experience coming out of Hong Kong. As its name shows, the Sleeping Bus Tour is designed to help passengers catch some sleep, and rides are already selling out.

A 2022 survey by the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Center of Communication and Public Opinion notes almost 70% people experiences some form of sleep disorder. Hong Kongers have much stress from work and need a space for sleeping, but their living spaces are too small. Some may not live alone and have to share apartments with their family, which may not be a good environment for a proper rest.

After noticing passengers falling asleep on their buses, the Hong Kong tour company, Ulu Travel Agency, recently launched such an innovative way for adults to sleep: the Sleeping Bus Tour. The five-hour bus ride takes passengers on an 83-kilometer journey aboard a regular double-decker bus. Not only is the Sleeping Bus Tour the first of its kind, it's also the longest bus route in Hong Kong, ensuring that tired passengers have plenty of time to enjoy some sleep.

When passengers board the bus, they are treated with a goodie bag complete with an eye mask and earplugs to help them sleep and they are allowed to bring their own blankets and slippers. The long ride includes a few stops for scenic spots and bathroom breaks. Passengers can also get off the bus if they’d prefer to continue their sleep at home rather than complete the entire journey. Tickets for the Sleeping Bus Tour are divided in four kinds from the “Zero-decibel (分贝) Sleeping Cabin“ to the ”VIP Cabin.” Prices range from about $17 USD to $115 USD per person. For more information on this unique experience, head to the Ulu travel company website.