English is full of colorful phrases to describe shyness. Someone shy might be called shrinking violet or a wallflower, while for especially nervous types we have the curious expression: they wouldn't say boo to a goose.

    None of these are traditionally seen as positive descriptions, even if you like geese. In a culture of go-getting, high achievers, shy people don't come first. Or that's what the self-help industry would have you believe. Bookshops are filled with vital tomes(巨著) that promise to help beat social fears and find success in life, love and business. That is why one book, Shrinking Violets: A Field Guide to Shyness, bucks the trend. It became a sudden success across English-language media recently for its new take-on shyness.

    Author Joe Moran says that despite struggling with shyness and longing for loneliness all his life, being shy can also be "a gift". Freed from the constant urge to participate and compete in social situations, people are liberated to look at the world in new ways, and gain fresh insights.

    Indeed, many of the world's great thinkers and artists are introverts(内向的人). Scientists Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein preferred their own company; actress Keira Knightley often finds herself tongue-tied at parties; and Harry Potter author JK Rowling claims she used to be too nervous to even borrow a pen.

    Moran told BBC Future: "I think shyness probably does turn you into an amateur anthropologist(人类学家), really-you are more likely to be an observer."

    So, while extroverts make all the noise, they don't necessarily have the best ideas.

    If you're shy, you've probably known this for a long time. You just don't shout about it.

    I was born on the 17th of November 1828, in the village of Nam Ping, which is about four miles southwest of the Portuguese Colony (殖民地) of Macao, and is located on Pedro Island lying west of Macao, from which it is separated by a channel of half a mile wide.

    As early as 1834, an English lady, Mrs. Gutzlaff, wife of a missionary to China, came to Macao. Supported by the Ladies' Association in London for the promotion of female education in India and the East, she immediately took up the work of starting a girls' school for Chinese girls, which was soon followed by the opening of a boys' school.

    Mrs. Gutzlaff's comprador(买办) happened to come from my village and was actually my father's friend and neighbor. It was through him that my parents heard about Mrs. Gutzlaff's school and it was doubtlessly through his influence and means that my father got me admitted into the school. It has always been a mystery to me why my parents should put me into a foreign school, instead of a traditional Confucian school, where my big brother was placed. Most certainly such a step would have been more suitable for Chinese public opinion, taste, and the wants of the country, than to allow me to attend an English school. Moreover, a Chinese belief is the only avenue in China that leads to political promotion, influence, power and wealth. I can only guess that as foreign communication with China was just beginning to grow, my parents hoped that it might be worthwhile to put one of their sons to learning English. In this way he might become an interpreter and have a more advantageous position to enter the business and diplomatic world. I am wondering if that influenced my parents to put me into Mrs. Gutzlaff's School. As to what other sequences it has eventually brought about in my later life, they were entirely left in the hands of God.

    Do you like eating processed meat? If you do, think twice now if you want to eat such meat for the sake of your health. Why? It's because eating processed meat can cause cancer, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said last Monday.

    Processed meat is the meat that has been preserved by salting, smoking, drying or canning. Experts from the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France studied 800 patients. The experts connected processed meat, such as hot dogs and bacon, with at least three kinds of cancer. A person who eats 50 grams of processed meat per day—about two pieces of bacon—increases his or her risk of bowel(肠) cancer by 18 percent.

    The IARC has included processed meat in its Group 1 list, for which there is “enough evidence” of connection with cancer. Tobacco is also on the Group 1 list.

WHO experts also say red meat, including beef, lamb and pork, is “probably” carcinogenic (致癌的) to humans. Dr. Kurt Strait is with the IARC. He said in a statement that the risk of cancer increases with the amount of meat a person eats. Health experts in some countries advised against eating large amounts of red and processed meat. But those suggestions had been centered on the increased risk of heart disease and obesity.

    However, meat industry groups protest the result of the WHO study. They say that meat is part of a balanced diet. They also say the causes of cancer are broad, and include environment and lifestyle factors.

    The WHO report cites the Global Burden of Disease project, which shows that diets high in processed meat lead to 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide.

Coolest Hotels in the World

    Artau Aragon Towers

    The Ariau Amazon Towers hotel lets you sleep in a tree house. Eight towers make up this hotel that offers over 300 rooms. If you really want to get into the spirit, book the Tarzan Suite which is large enough for a big family. You'll be thirty feet up in the air and can travel between the towers through their wooden walkways.

    Prices: starting at $300 one night for each person for a regular room and going all the way up to $3000 for the Tarzan Suite.

    For more information, visit the website: http://Hwww.ariautowers.com

    The Ice Hotel

    Every winter in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden, a special kind of hotel called the Ice Hotel is built. Each year, world-famous artists are invited to design and produce works of art from the ice, many of which can be found in the rooms. You'll have your choice between hot or cold rooms but you will be well advised to stay at least one night in a cold room for a true experience.

    Prices: starting at $318 one night for each person for either a cold room or a warm one. For more information, visit the website: http:Hwww.icehotel.com.

Propeller Island

    Propeller Island City Lodge is a very special hotel that was designed by a German artist. Each room provides you with the possibility of living in a work of art. Every single piece of furniture in the thirty rooms of the hotel has been hand-made and each room is completely different. You'll be able to choose a room based on your own personal tastes.

    Prices: starting at just $91 a night, and an additional (另外) person for only 20 extra dollars.

    For more information, visit the website: http://www.propeller-island.com.

    For information about other cool hotels. In the world, visit the website: http://www.bahamabeachclub.com.

    Frogmore House has been a royal place since the 18th century and is today used by the Royal Family for private entertaining. It is especially linked with Queen Charlotte, The wife of George III, and her daughters, whose love of botany and art is reflected throughout the house.

    Unfortunately, parts of a visit to Frogmore are unsuitable for wheelchair-users. For information about access, please telephone 020 7766 7324.

Frogmore House and Garden

    18, 19, 20 May 10:00 - 17:30 (last admission 16:00)

    28, 29, 30 August 10:00 -17:30 (last admission 16:00)

    Please telephone 020 7766 7305 for admission prices.

    Summer Opening for Pre-booked Coach Groups

    3 August - 30 September every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, 10:00- 15:00.

    Adult: £ 10.50 0ver 60/Student (with valid ID): £ 8. 80

    Child (under 17) : £5. 80 Child (under 5): Free

    Price includes a guided tour of the house.

    Private Evening Tours

    17:30 - 19:00. £25. 00 per person. Price includes a guided tour, a copy of the official guidebook and a glass of champagne.

    The maximum group size for all visits is 10 people

    Please note that there is no access for private cars.

    To make a group booking, please telephone 020 7766 7315.

    For more information including BSL (British Sign Language) interpretation, please telephone 020 7766 7326.

Best Walking Tours in London

London is one of the most walkable capital cities in the world. People may think you're mad if you do drive a car around town. Besides, nothing quite lets you get to know a city like a good walk around. So, lace up your sneakers—here are London's best walking tours for your next visit.

Tour for Muggles

This is a can't-miss trip in England. The tour starts near London Bridge subway station and moves on to locations used in the Harry Potter films (and several book locations). There's one subway ride (London Bridge to Westminster) but otherwise it's all on foot Groups are capped to 20 and accept tourists of all ages.

Jermyn Street Fashion Walk

A seriously professional private tour to match your preferences. Groups are recommended no larger than eight, and it's all done on foot. Most of the guides, who lead the Jermyn Street walk, have a background of art, history or fashion, and one even trained as a tailor.

Historic Pubs, Food &Beer Tour

Think of this as a walk with friends rather than a tour (groups are capped at 12). You meet at a best selfie spot-at Rotherhithe, overlooking the Thames—then catch the overground train to the pubs. By reservation only. Five of London's most historic pubs in four hours is not an easy but worthwhile task.

East End Walks

East End Walks is a collection of 15 tours run by one man, David Rosenberg. The tours cover the social history of the traditionally working class area. Groups are capped at 30; you meet near the subway station. Rosenberg, whose grandparents moved to the East End as children, loves the area and its social history a lot—it holds the story of the working class, which is rarely told.