Ever think of what Elsa's ice palace might look like in real life? Ice stairs, ice walls, and ice towers? When winter approaches, Harbin turns into a kingdom of ice and snow.
The annual Harbin Ice and Snow Festival opens in late December and lasts for around 3 months, till late February.
What's New for Harbin Ice Festival
Every year, there's a unique theme for the Ice Festival. A huge Snowflake Ferris Wheel (摩天轮) has already been built inside the park. Visitors will be able to ride on the Ferris Wheel and overlook the ice castles in early 2023. For this upcoming festival, the highlight may be when the giant Snowflake is colorfully lit up at night, shining high in the sky.
Yearly Time Line
|
Dates |
Activities |
|
Early December |
Ice Harvest |
|
December |
Carving and Building |
|
Christmas period |
Unofficial Opening |
|
Jan. 5, 2023 |
Opening Ceremony |
|
Jan. 18 to Feb. 15, 2023 |
Special Celebrations for Chinese New Year |
|
Late Feb. to early Mar. |
Ice and snow sculptures start to melt |
Click here and Book Now! Tickets for Harbin Ice and Snow World are on sale now!*Dec. 25, 2022—Jan. 5, 2023: ¥170/person (half price for children)
*Jan. 6, 2023—Feb. 28, 2023: ¥230/person (half price for children)
Contact us for available tour dates before they are fully booked.
Attention
As long as the ice and snow sculptures are open to visitors, it is impossible to take photos of the charming ice buildings without any visitors in! This might be different from what you see in the media (that have special access).
Sharon Holland and her husband, Jer, are travelling around the world and saving money at the same time by swapping (交换) houses with strangers to keep the bills low. They only have to pay for their flights, meaning they save hundreds of pounds on their holidays each year.
The couple's occupation allows them to enjoy long periods of school holidays. Both work as school Deputy Principals, which allows them to take their children, Cian, 23, Miah, 13, and Faye, 11, abroad up to four times per year. On average, they pay £1,250 per year for flights.
Sharon, from Cork, Ireland, has exchanged her home with a stranger 40 times in the last 13 years and says she's never regret. She said: "I couldn't imagine travelling in any other way now. Swapping our Irish Georgian farmhouse for another house abroad is amazing. There are home-style houses, modern city apartments and beautiful architectural period houses too. Every holiday is different and staying in someone else's house makes our experience more rewarding and enjoyable. We are able to meet more locals and understand the culture more than we would if we were to stay at a hotel. We bring our laptops during the summer weeks as we are both responsible for timetabling and school planning but this can be done at a distance".
Sharon has visited various cities in America, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, the UK and their home country of Ireland. "But our favourite place is Italy. We have been lucky enough to visit there six times. Over the years, every experience has been great—from the architecture to the food. We have made some wonderful happy memories for less", adds she.
Starting this fall, primary and middle school students in China will have at least one weekly course on labor education, according to a new curriculum standard released by the Ministry of Education (MOE).
Labor education ranges from household chores to on-campus labor and community volunteer services, generally 3 types according to the new standards: the first refers to everyday chores, including cleaning, organizing, cooking, and using and maintaining home appliances (家电); next is productive labor, including agriculture, making traditional handicrafts (手工艺品), and applying new technologies such as 3D printing; the third type is service work, including volunteer work. The new curriculum also calls for a week of extra-curricular and off-campus activities designed for labor education once every school year.
A recent study showed that primary and middle school students in China only spend an average of 12 minutes a day on chores, compared to 72 minutes in the US, 42 minutes in South Korea and 30 minutes in France. Many countries start students' labor education at a young age. Finland begins to develop students' life skills in primary school. Spinning, woodworking, cooking and other craftsmanship classes are offered. In Germany, pupils have two labor classes per week. Electronics, office technology, sewing, housekeeping, and career guidance are all taught there.
Adding labor education was out of concern that the country's youngsters do too little housework and look down on manual labor (体力劳动) jobs. Due to great academic pressure, schools tend to put their academic curricula on the top, and parents sometimes see household chores as distractions. But, according to the MOE, labor education must be strengthened to help students develop social values, an interest in labor and finally an all-around development.
For people suffering from depression (抑郁), there's an all-natural treatment they should use—getting more exercise. It could help fight depression, even if people have a genetic risk, new research shows.
For the study, researchers collected information from nearly 8,000 people and found those with related genes (基因) were more likely to have depression over the next two years after examining them. But that was less likely for people who were more active at the study's start, even if they had a family history of depression. Higher levels of physical activity helped protect even those with the highest genetic risk of depression.
Both high-intensity (高强度) exercise and low-intensity activities were associated with a reduced risk of depression. Adding four hours of exercise a week could lower the risk of a new episode (一段经历) of depression by 17%, according to the study. "Our findings strongly suggest that, when it comes to depression, being physically active has the potential to remove the added risk of future episodes in individuals who are genetically risky," said lead author Karmel Choi. "On average, about 35 additional minutes of physical activity each day may help people to reduce their risk and protect against future depression episodes. "
Depression is a common mental illness globally, with more than 264 million people affected. "Depression is so ubiquitous, and that underlines the need for effective approaches that can impact as many people as possible," Choi said. And mental health and primary care providers can use the findings to advise patients that there's something meaningful they can do to lower their risk of depression.
Recent research shows that listening to music improves our health in surprising ways. If we take a music lesson or two, that musical training can help raise our IQs and even keep us sharp in old age.
Music Reduces Pain
As Bob Marely once put it: "One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain." Research at Drexel University found that music reduced pain more than standard treatments in cancer patients. Other research showed that music can ease pain in patients.
Music Keeps Your Brain Healthy in Old Age
A study with healthy older adults found that those with ten or more years of musical experience scored higher on cognitive (认知的) tests than musicians with one to nine years of musical study. "Since studying an instrument requires years of practice and learning, it may create the connections in the brain that could make up for cognitive decreases as we get older," said lead researcher Brenda Hanna-Pladdy.
A study showed that students who listened to relaxing classical music for 45 minutes before turning in slept much better than students who listened to an audio book or did nothing different from their normal routine. If you're having trouble sleeping, try listening to a little Mozart before bedtime.
Music Raises IQ and Academic Performance
In one study, 6-year-olds who took keyboard or singing lessons in small groups for 36 weeks had large increases in IQ and standardized educational test results than children who took either drama lessons or no lessons. To help children achieve academic excellence, encourage them to take music lessons.
A. Here are some amazing benefits of music.
B. Therefore, standard treatments are strongly advised by doctors.
C. Music Helps You Sleep Better
D. Music Relaxes People
E. The non-musicians scored the lowest.
F. Research shows that learning music predicts higher scores in children.
G. But the selection needed to be either classical pieces or their choices.
On a trip back from Boston, my two little guys and I stopped at a gas station. It was not until I got home that I1my wallet had been left there.
I tried to set aside my frustration and 2 over this and focused on taking action. First, I had to find the phone number of the gas station. Just a quick Baidu 3, right? Unluckily, the number had been recently 4 due to new ownership. So I5the restaurant across the street. The hostess warmly took down my 6 and had a waiter bring it to the gas station manager, who then rang me up. He told me that a regular customer had found my wallet and 7 it over to him for safekeeping. We 8that I would drive back to the gas station the next day to 9 my wallet.
My relief that the situation was heading the right direction was10, as was my appreciation for the 11 and thoughtfulness of others — from the 12 who found my wallet to the restaurant hostess to the manager, who was willing to 13 me my wallet if that was14for me.
At every step of the way, a generous spirit was shown, which was15 in a world where we often 16self-focused thinking and self-serving behavior.
Much good fortune 17 me after I left my wallet behind on that trip back from Boston—including a powerful reminder of the goodness and generosity of others. My world was 18 and made more joyful, not just by being reunited with my wallet, but by the 19 acts of others. As Marianne Williamson wrote, "20 is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.
Ocean Park Hong Kong is one of Hong Kong's greatest tourist(attract). Because the park isn't run for profit, it is much more suitable for education and wildlife conservation research. And (compare) with other theme parks, it takes better care of the animals. In addition, you will find prices there fairly reasonable considering the size and the quality. Therefore, since its opening, the park (draw) a large number of visitors.
(cover) about a square kilometer on the southern side of Hong Kong Island, the theme park is conveniently close to downtown. As the park attracts large crowds every day, try to be there the park opens at 10 in the morning and avoid the busy holidays and weekends. It is also recommended that tickets (buy) online in advance.
Hong Kong is a unique city in the world you can buy one card to pay for public transport and all your purchases. card is available at the ticket windows of any subway station in Hong Kong, with which then you can pay for things in the park. And you can add money as you wish and have returned to a station window for the remaining money back.
Wish you an (enjoy) day in Hong Kong's most popular theme park.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。 删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改 10处，多者(从第 11处起)不计分。
As we all know, traveling can be an excited experience. Let me give you some advices that you have to pay attention to. You can find out more about your destination by surf the Internet before you set out. You needn't take too many cash. Although you can be very convenient to pay in cash, using credit cards are much more reliable. In addition to, it will be wise of you to take umbrella in case it rains. And if you are to travel abroad, you'd better understanding the cultural diversity. Keep in mind that being politely in foreign countries can help you had a wonderful trip.
