1 . The Best National Parks to Visit in Winter

While most parks tend to draw families in the summer and fall, there are also ideal spots for adventurous winter trips.

The country’s oldest and best-known national park takes on an almost otherworldly atmosphere in winter: the air filled with rolling steam, the strong colors of hot springs, the surrounding white landscapes, let alone the impressive wildlife during this time, like bison, wolves, and playful red foxes. Just book a guided hiking tour to get a ranger’s perspective on the park and local people.

With its giant red rocks and unique trees, you’ll feel like stepping onto a foreign planet as you spend hours hiking the Panorama Loop or Maze Loop. The park is recognized as an International Dark Sky Park, featuring virtually zero light pollution and the country’s best views of a starry sky.

A significantly lower number of visitors in winter means you can take in unblocked views of the South Rim, and get to see the rare beauty of the Grand Canyon dusted with snow. For those adventurous and daring, it is recommended to hike the Bright Angel Trail and take the chance to see the canyon’s wintertime wildlife, including mule deer, elk, and bald eagles.

Surprise! Not all wintertime national park trips need to involve snow. Virgin Islands National Park is most famous for its white-sand beaches. You can also hike inland to visit old sugar plantations, or venture out to the water to swim along with sea turtles and manta rays. You will definitely enjoy a different winter here.

3 . Here are four destinations that have to be included in any trip to the northeastern city Harbin.

At Harbin Ice-Snow World, you can not only see the world-famous ice architecture, but also have great fun! You can have hotpot at igloo restaurants, enjoying the product of both ice and fire, and go down the world’s longest ice slide.

The Sun Island Snow Expo is the world’s largest snow sculpture(雕塑)art show. You can play in the snow as well as admire the art made from it. Tourists from the south might be surprised by the bright sunshine reflected in the snow, so don’t forget the sunscreen. This is a good place to toss water into the air and watch it turn into ice immediately. Find a safe place with no one nearby, and enjoy the unique phenomenon.

One place you shouldn’t miss when visiting Harbin is Yabuli Ski Resort, where you can ski down snow-covered mountains. Yabuli Sun Mountain Resort is surrounded by mountains and forests. The snow is thick and moderately hard. There are junior, middle and senior ski runs. Professional staff are available to improve your skiing ability and give you an experience of a lifetime.

It might not be part of an ordinary tourist plan, but it is worth an extra night in Harbin! The winter is cold and the night is long, so why not go to the theatre? Northerners consider it a romantic thing to do in winter. Harbin was listed by the United Nations as a music city in 2010. Harbin Grand Theater is where artistic souls defrost a little to share their love of art.

5 . When my father and I traveled to Paris, Notre Dame was our first stop. But when we arrived at Notre Dame, we saw a long line outside it. Even so, we didn’t want to _________. We decided to go to the back garden of Notre Dame where there were few tourists.

Immersed in the beautiful natural scenery, we wanted to take some _________ photos. As we tried to find a photographer, a tall, slim Frenchman _________ toward us and showed us he was willing to take pictures for us.

Trying to get the perfect shot, he kept changing the _________ of the camera. However, after a few _________, he didn’t return our camera. His behavior confused us. But after a while, it became _________. He asked for 10 euros as payment before he would return our camera.

At that point, I was so angry that I _________ to argue with him. But my father stopped me and paid the money, with a(n)_________ expression on his face, the man walked away quickly to search for his next _________.

Later, my father __________ to me: There’s no such thing as a free lunch. So it’s __________ to ask for a payment after taking photos for us. But if someone offers to help you, never __________ the kindness just because of this particular event. Most acts of kindness are pure and without any __________ intention.

__________, we met a lot of warm-hearted locals who guided us and lent a hand when we needed them. So just remember, we can’t throw away the __________ because of its core.

7 . A national park is created for the purpose of conservation. Yellowstone National Park in the US was the first national park in the world. Here are some other national parks in the world.

Northeast Greenland National Park, Denmark

The national park is the largest one in the world. It covers an area of 927，000 km²，It is also the most northern national park in the world.

Around 5,000 to 15,000 musk oxen (麝香牛) as well as polar bears live in the park. Some of the birds also live there.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia

The park is the second largest national park in the world. It protects a large part of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef from being damaged in any way.

All commercial ships must stay on specific shipping routes that avoid the most sensitive areas of the park. The Great Barrier Reef has the world's largest number of corals and other sea life.

Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, Mozambique

This national park covers an area of 99,800 km².It joins some of the famous wildlife areas in southern Africa into a huge conservation area.

In 2006, the Giriyondo tourist access between the Limpopo and Kruger national parks was opened. There were 5,000 animals moving from Kruger to Limpopo National Park, including over 1,000 elephants.

Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada

The park was created in 1922 to protect the wood bison (森林野牛) whose population had dropped from 40 million in 1830 to less than 1.000 by 1900.

The park consists of 44,807 square kilometers of northern plains. It is also the world's only natural living place of the cranes (鹤).

8 . A big part of an American road trip is to get your music on as you head out on the highway and enjoy the sights and the scenery. Here are the top four scenic drives in America’s Southwest.

Big Sur Coast Highway, California

It is officially known as California State Route 1 with views of high mountains and rolling waves. Photo tip--just after you cross the bridge (going south), there’s a parking area which is great for shots looking back towards the bridge.

Las Vegas Boulevard, Nevada

Number two is not to be confused with “The Strip” in Las Vegas. It is worth checking out for its neon (霓虹) signs along the roadside. You can see the Hacienda Horse, Rider and the iconic Silver Slipper along this way which takes only 15 minutes to drive.

Death Valley, California

As the hottest, driest and lowest national park, Death Valley is a land of extremes. More than just a desert, Death Valley provides park visitors with a chance to admire natural beauty from the snow mountains to the wildflower fields and small oases (绿洲) to the endless desert.

Red Rock Scenic Byway, Arizona

The Scenic Byway is south on the way to Oak Creek, which is surrounded by an amazing landscape of red rock hills set against clear blue skies. The sandstone rock glows in the sunshine and it’s worth taking your hiking boots and getting out into the landscape to experience its positive energy.

9 . Travelling with some of your favourite people is an exciting experience. If done well, group travelling can be the most thrilling experience ever, filled with games, laughter, and unforgettable memories.     1     Read on for some of the things you need to note and do for an enjoyable experience.

    2    

Ideas are usually exciting when they are fresh. The longer you delay, the more you’ll find excuses not to go. Let all interested parties meet as soon as possible to decide on dates, locations and budget. It’s best to plan the trip three or four months in advance.

Assign roles

For the trip to be successful, it has to be well organized. You’re going on a trip far from home, not the shopping mall. This is why the group should assign a leader who would be responsible for planning and organizing the trip.     3     Break them down further. For example, choose someone to handle booking a hotel and another person to take care of the meal.

Budget pool

    4     You can do a weekly or monthly payment plan before your trip. Once you decide how much would fund the trip, members can start contributing the money weekly or monthly. The leader would then use the money to pay for accommodations, meals, transportation and more while you’re on vacation. If there’s money left in the end, split it up or go wild one last night.

Create a flexible itinerary（行程）

An easy way to create and share an itinerary is through Google Docs. Add the group members to the document and give them permission to edit it. Suggest one or two optional activities per day which do not require advance bookings, such as a local hike or museum.     5    

The Xi’an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived China’s long history. It     1     (build) originally to protect the city     2     the Tang dynasty and has now been completely restored (修复). It is possible       3     (walk) or bike the entire 14 kilometers.

We accessed the wall through the South Gate. The wall is 12 meters high and from here you can see streams of people moving inside and outside the City Wall.

After     4     (spend) some time looking at all the defensive equipment at the wall, we decided it was time for some action and what     5     (good) than to ride on a piece of history!

We     6     (hire) our bikes from the rental place at the South Gate. My bike was old and shaky     7     did the job. It took us about 3 hours to go all     8     way around the Xi’an City Wall. Supposedly you can do it in two hours, but we stopped at the different gates and     9     (watchtower) to take pictures or just to watch the local people going about their     10     (day) routines.