China is a land of bicycles. At least it was back in 1992 when I traveled the country. Back then everyone seemed to be riding a bicycle. Millions of them, all black. Cars were rare. Yet since my arrival in Beijing last year, I've found the opposite is true. There are millions of cars. However, people still use their bicycles to get around. For many, it's the easiest and cheapest way to travel today. Bicycles also come in different colors — silver, green, red, blue, yellow, whatever you want.

    It's fun watching people biking. They rush quickly through crossroads, move skillfully through traffic, and ride even on sidewalks. Bicycles allow people the freedom to move about that cars just can't provide.

    Eager to be part of this aspect of Chinese culture, I decided to buy a bicycle. Great weather accompanied my great buy. I immediately jumped up on my bicycle seat and started home.

    My first ride home was orderly (守秩序的). To be safe, I stayed with a “pack” of bikers while cars on the streets came running swiftly out of nowhere at times. I didn't want to get hit. So I took the ride carefully.

    Crossing the streets was the biggest problem. It was a lot like crossing a major highway back in the United States. The streets here were wide, so crossing took time, skill and a little bit of luck.

    I finally made it home. The feeling on the bicycle was amazing. The air hitting my face and going through my hair was wonderful. I was sitting on top of the world as I passed by places and people. Biking made me feel alive.

                                                                             Bread Garrett's Comedy Club

    Category: Comedy

    Best known for his role on the Emmy award -winning sitcom（情景喜剧）Everybody Loves Raymond, Brad Garrett returns to his Vegas roots with his comedy club at the MGM Grand. It is a good place to check out when you need a break from work.

    Prices from: $56.40 and up

    Age restriction: Must be 21 years of age or older

    Show Length: 115 minutes

    Mac King Comedy Magic Show

    Category: Comedy, Magic

    The Mac King Comedy Magic Show is different every afternoon, with lots of audience participation. He is willing to make fun of himself instead of his guests in order to make everyone feel welcome and entertained. The afternoon is kid-friendly from start to finish. Still, whether you're eight or 80, you won't be able to figure out King's secrets.

    Prices from: $40.90 and up

    Age restriction: No age restriction

    Show Length: 90 minutes

    The Mentalist, Gerry McCambridge

    Category: Comedy, Magic

    Using his skills as a “mentalist”, Gerry McCambridge shocks the crowds as he uses his abilities to predict just what audience members will do next. Anyone who has seen the show has walked away in disbelief, amazed by his unusual power.

    Prices from: $34.99 and up

    Age restriction: Under 13 will not be admitted into the theater

    Show Length: 75 minutes

    Rock of Ages

    Category: Plays & Musicals

    The cheerful Rock of Ages brings audiences back to the times of big hair and even bigger bands with 28 popular rock songs from the 80s including Every Rose Has Its Thom, I Wanna Know What Love Is, Here I Go Again, and more.

    Rock of Ages has been nominated（提名）for five Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical. It also received a Drama League nomination for Distinguished Production for a Musical.

    Prices from: $74.00 and up

    Age restriction: Must be 15 years of age or older

    Show Length: 125 minutes

My First Marathon（马拉松）

    A month before my first marathon, one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. Yet, I was determined to go ahead.

    I remember back to my 7th year in school. In my first P.E. class, the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball. I didn't do either well. He later informed me that I was ＂not athletic＂.

    The idea that I was ＂not athletic＂ stuck with me for years. When I started running in my 30s, I realized running was a battle against myself, not about competition or whether or not I was athletic. It was all about the battle against my own body and mind. A test of wills!

    The night before my marathon, I dreamed that I couldn't even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, but ready to prove something to myself.

    Shortly after crossing the start line, my shoe laces(鞋带) became untied. So I stopped to readjust. Not the start I wanted!

    At mile 3, I passed a sign: ＂GO FOR IT, RUNNERS!＂

    By mile 17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly. Despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again.

    By mile 21, I was starving!

    As I approached mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign. She is my biggest fan. She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a.m. or questioned my expenses on running.

    I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.gkstk

    Determined to be myself, move forward, free of shame and worldly labels(世俗标签), I can now call myself a ＂marathon winner＂.

    What do you think of your Chinese? If you think your Chinese is good enough, you can take part in the competition named Chinese Characters Dictation Competition(中国汉字听写大会).

    Today teenagers are using more and more smart phones. They spend too much time in shopping, chatting, playing games and so on. Many of them cannot using smart phones to help with their study. Overuse of smart phones will make students too lazy to think and write. Some of them even forget how to write Chinese characters by hand. Teachers and parents are very worried about it.

    In order to draw people's attention to the problems above, in 2013 CCTV held the first Chinese Characters Dictation Competition. About 200 students from 32 teams took part in it. They stood on the stage to write down Chinese characters by dictation. Lu Jialei, a 14-year-old girl from Zhejiang, got first place.

    Since then, the competition has been popular among teenagers. Many people are interested in this kind of competition, too. They like to write down the characters while the competitors(参赛者)are writing them.

    Can you be the next winner?

    Want to explore new cultures, meet new people and do something worthwhile at the same time? You can do all the three with Global Development Association(GDA). Whatever stage of life you're at, wherever you go and whatever project you do in GDA, you'll create positive changes in a poor and remote community(社区).

    We work with volunteers of all ages and backgrounds. Most of our volunteers are aged 17-24. Now we need volunteer managers aged 25-75. They are extremely important in the safe and effective running of our programmes. We have such roles as project managers, mountain leaders, and communication officers.

    Depending on which role you choose, you could help to increase a community's access to safe drinking water, or help to protect valuable local cultures. You might also design an adventure challenge to train young volunteers.

    Not only will you help our young volunteers to develop personally, you'll also learn new skills and increase your cultural awareness. You may have chances to meet new people who'll become your lifelong friends.

    This summer we have both 4-week and 7-week programmes:

    GDA ensures that volunteers work with community members and local project partners where our help is needed. All our projects aim to promote the development of poor and remote communities.

    There is no other chance like a GDA programme. Join us as a volunteer manager to develop your own skills while bringing benefits to the communities.

    Find out more about joining a GDA programme:

    Website:www.glodeve.org

    Email:humanresources@glodeve.org

Have you ever heard of invisible ink? You may have seen it in movies. When light is shone on the paper which invisible ink is written on, you can read it!

As magical as this seems, the change in color is due to science. The ink is absorbing higher energy light and giving lower energy light. This reaction is an example of fluorescence (荧光) .

Light is a very broad term that describes a range of electromagnetic rays, including gamma rays, infrared light (红外光) and ultraviolet light. One part of the electromagnetic visible light is the colors that we can see with the human eye. These rays travel in curvy lines and each type of the ray is characterized by a different wave pattern. For example, Gamma rays have a shorter wavelength than infrared light. Shorter wavelength is connected with higher energy, so gamma rays also have more energy than infrared light.

Corals (珊瑚) are animals that live underwater. And the corals in the Red Sea exhibit fluorescence. Why is this happening? Scientists have shown that fluorescent objects absorb higher energy light and release lower energy light. Since the corals of the Red Sea are deep in the water where there is very little visible light, scientists theorize that these corals absorb ultraviolet light and produce visible light. They have special photo proteins, which enable them to change invisible light to visible light.

Fluorescence is not just used to create pretty colors. Corals have developed photo proteins for a biological reason. The visible light is used by algae (海藻) , which are eaten by the coral, to make food through photosynthesis (光合作用). The visual character of these photo proteins could also be used for biomedical research. They can highlight cells and cell structures under a microscope.

Isn't it amazing that a simple organism that we don't think very much of is not only grand but could also have so many potential uses in medical research!