Tony Wheeler was born to travel. His father worked for an airline. For the first 16 years of his life, Wheeler and his family lived in many different countries.
In the early 1970s, Tony met a young woman named Maureen. They soon married. Before getting jobs, Tony and Maureen wanted to travel. They took a year-long trip from England, through Asia, to Australia. On the trip, they visited places like Iran（伊朗）and India.
When Tony and Maureen arrived in Australia, people asked many questions about their trip. To answer these questions, Wheeler wrote a book called Across Asia on the Cheap. The book told people about different countries' weather, customs（风俗）, and places to see. But unlike other travel books then, Tony Wheeler's book also talked about places most tourists did not go. He also wrote about unusual things to see and do. The book was very popular.
Tony and Maureen started a company called Lonely Planet. They continued travelling. They wrote books for each place they visited. Today, 800 people work for Lonely Planet. The company has over 650 books. Tony Wheeler, the great traveler, still writes about travels to many places and will bring us more surprises.
Hello Sandy,
We have just returned from our holiday. We went with our friends Edward Smith and his wife Tina to the Yorkshire Moors. This is a beautiful place. It is a natural park. There are lots of places to walk on the tops of the hills, miles of grassland with no people, just sheep and birds.
Edward, who had just come out of hospital, could not walk as far as he used to. However this meant that we walked in the mornings, and then stopped at a cafe for lunch each day, before returning to the place we live. Edward and I slept in front of the fire all afternoon, while the ladies went for another walk. Very pleasant!
I have taken lots of photos from the place we live, across the valley（峡谷）below us, of the morning sunrise, and the mist in the valley. Also, in England, the old steam powered trains（蒸汽火车）are very popular. I have taken many photos of the train and from it.
Yesterday we had the first snow of this winter. It is very early （we usually expect snow in January）. It rained all day, and then snowed in the evening. Today we have bright sunshine! Both Jenny and I are well. I don't know if I told you, in the last e-mail, that Jenny is now working in a hotel. Although she has to work hard, people there are nice and she is enjoying the work.
Please write to us to tell us your news.
Yours,
Victor
At present, more and more people are crazy about travelling. Why do people travel? “To see more of the world,” many people would say. But travelling abroad now means much more than that for the growing number of Chinese tourists. Of course it offers us good opportunities to meet people from other countries and learn about their culture and customs.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), more than 1 billion people travelled to another country in 2012. In 2012, Chinese people travelled abroad 30 percent more than in 2011. The prosperity (繁荣) of the tourism industry can also bring both our country and foreign countries great economic benefits (经济利益). Chinese people usually join large tourist groups and visit several countries in one trip.
Chinese people don't just travel for sightseeing. The China International Travel Service Company said that all their tour trips were sold out a month before Christmas Day. Stores offered discounts (打折) during that time, so shopping in Europe and the United States is popular among Chinese travelers.
In December, China is going through a very cold winter. So many people like to go to some countries in Southeast Asia because the weather there is quite pleasant.
The improvement of living standards means more Chinese can travel abroad. But many of them don't have a sense of public manners. A report by Living Social website in March 2012 even listed Chinese as the world's second worst tourists.
If you want to change that bad name, remember to avoid the following: littering, spitting, snatching bus seats, line-jumping, taking off shoes in public, talking loudly and smoking in non-smoking areas. Besides, we should learn some necessary manners of foreign countries.
