Yours,

L Jin

3 . Are you looking for a great day camp program for your little ones this summer? Here we have rounded up some of the best summer camps close to New York.

Atletico de Madrid

This camp once worked with Arsenal Football Club. It offers boys and girls aged 5-16 chances to train with one of the world’s most successful soccer colleges. Two players from the camp will be chosen by coaches to play a game in Madrid in October. This year, this camp will be running for two weeks.

Abrons Art Center

The Abrons Art Center offers learning experiences in dance, music and theater to campers aged 5-13. Campers will take part in an exchange with professional artists and arts workers, who will explain the artistic process. Extended (延长的) day classes provide more chances for arts learning.

A Montessori Summer

A Montessori Summer is for children aged 3.5-14. Each week, the program provides the students with a day trip away from school. Usually, children can enjoy the trips to beaches, parks and wildlife preserves(保护区) and they also go mountain-climbing. Certainly, these activities make students’ life more colorful.

92Y

The 92Y offers all kinds of experiences to every camper, from their outdoor day camps in beautiful Rockland County (县) (suitable for kids from 5-13 years of age) to their Preschool Day Camp for kids from 3-5 years of age. They also include more camps in the city for kids aged 3-18. From sports to language learning to adventure camps, every kid can pick whatever they like.

4 . Hiking Across the Great Outdoors

What limits you from hiking more often? Many complain that they don’t have a suitable partner to go with. If not having a suitable hiking partner is keeping you out of the woods why not take a look at the great hiking clubs across Canada?

Yukon Outdoors Club

Website: yukonoutdoorsclub. ca

Membership cost: $10 for a single membership; $15 for a family membership.

Description: The club coordinates day hikes, backpacking trips, canoe trips, mountain biking, cross-country skiing trips, snowshoeing trips and various workshops for members to gain new skills and valuable information. The trips are open to everyone and range from easy to moderate to difficult.

UBC Varsity Outdoor Club

Website: ubc-voc. com

Membership cost: Students $40; non-UBC students $60

Description: The UBC Varsity Outdoor Club is a social group that hikes, mountaineers, kayaks (皮划艇), rock climbs and ice climbs. Travel and outdoor-minded UBC students and non-students are welcome to join. Members lead trips, run skills workshops, host presentations and tune gear. For a refundable deposit, members can borrow equipment from the clubroom's gear cache (器材存放点). The UBC VOC has also constructed a few backcountry (偏僻地区) huts in the Coast Mountains.

Pender Harbor Hiking Group

Website: penderharbourhiking. weebly. com

Membership cost: Free

Description: Now in its fourth year and boasting about 100 members, the Pender Harbour Hiking Group offers a way for members to meet like-minded individuals and get fit. Hikes are scheduled two months in advance, so get on the mailing list or check the website regularly to find a hike that’s right for you! Show up at the designated (指定的) meeting point, and get hiking. Hikes are usually one and a half to two hours long every Monday and Wednesday morning, but some full-day hikes are scheduled, depending on member interest.

Vernon Outdoors Club

Website: vernonoutdoorsclub. org

Membership cost: A single membership is $25, and students pay $10. Children are free when they come with a registered family member.

Description: Boasting a membership of close to 200 people, the Vernon Outdoors Club is an active group that enjoys hiking and cycling. Since the membership is comprised of outdoor lovers in general, they are encouraged to share their activity ideas and interests. The group organizes a Tuesday Rambles event each week and also hosts multi-day trips.

5 . Every year about 40, 000 people attempt to climb Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. They ________ with them lots of waste. The ________ might damage the beauty of the place. The glaciers (冰川) are disappearing, changing the face of Kilimanjaro.

Hearing these stories, I’m skeptical about the place — other destinations are described as “purer” natural experience.

However, I soon ________ that much has changed since the days of disturbing reports of ________ among tons of rubbish. I find a ________ mountain, with toilets at camps and along the paths. The environmental challenges are ________ but the efforts made by the Tanzania National Park Authority seem to be ________.

The best of a Kilimanjaro ________, in my opinion, isn’t reaching the top. Mountains are ________ as spiritual places by in any cultures. This ________ is especially evident on Kilimanjaro as ________ go through five ecosystems (生态系统) in the space of a few kilometers. At the base is a rainforest. It ends abruptly at 3, 000 meters, giving way to lands of low growing plants. Further up, the weather ________ — low clouds envelop the mountainsides, which are covered with thick grass. I ________ twelve shades of green from where I stand. Above 4,000 meters is the highland desert: gravel (砾石), stones and rocks. ________ you climb into an arctic-like zone with permanent snow and the glaciers that may soon disappear.

Does Kilimanjaro ________ its reputation as a crowded mountain with lines of tourists ruining the atmosphere of peace? I found the opposite to be true.

I'm more than delighted to receive your letter

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Lijin.

7 . If you are interested in art, there are four art activities to be held in Beijing.

Over 100 paintings by modern China's painting master Xu Beihong are on show at the National Art Museum, including his oil and ink (墨) works.

Xu is skilled at describing birds and animals. His works creatively combine Western methods with traditional Chinese art, which has a big influence on modern Chinese artists.

If you go:

9:00am-5:30pm, from September to November (closed on Mondays). 1 Wusi Avenue, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6403-4951

Music Fans Classical Orchestra will provide a performance for Japanese anime and music lovers, bringing together great works by famous Japanese writer Joe Hisaishi, including melodies (旋律) in Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the sky and director Takeshi Kitano's film Kikujiro.

If you go:

7:30pm, November. Beijing Concert Hall, 1 North Xinhua Street, Xicheng district. 010-6605-7006.

The French opera film Carmen will be shown in Beijing on Saturday. It will be played in French, with English and Chinese subtitles (字幕).

Based on the novel of the same name by Prosper Merimee, Carmen was the last work of the famous French writer Georges Bizet, telling stories of the working class and ordinary people. It's also one of the popular operas in the world.

If you go:

1:30 pm, September. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district. 010-6655-0000

Beijing Comedy Theater will put on William Shakespeare's work The Merchant of Venice. It will be played in Chinese.

If you go:

7:30 pm, Dec 15-17; 2:30 pm, Dec 16. Beijing Comedy Theater,11 Chaoyangmen North Street, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 400-610-3721