Do you know Yao Beina?

    Not only a popular singer was Yao Beina, but also she was an energetic and warm-hearted angel. She had her corneas (眼角膜) donated to two men who needed them, which helped them see the world clearly again.

    Yao was born in a music family on Sept. 26, 1981 in Wuhan. Her father, Yao Feng, was the former chairman of the Shenzhen Association of Musicians and now serves as the vice chairman of Guangdong Association of Musicians. Under the influence of her family, she had taken up piano since the age of 4, and she sang her first song on the stage when she was 9 years old. Yao did quite well in singing, so she took part in the thirteenth Youth Singing Competition and won the first prize.

    She became well-known to the public after making a series of songs for the hit TV drama “The Legend of Zhenhuan” in 2012, and the mandarin version (中文版本) of “Let It Go” from Disney's “Frozen”. In July 2013, she competed in The Voice of China II and finally got the second place in Na Ying's team. She had won a lot of music awards before she was famous.

    Yao Beina was unfortunate to be diagnosed (诊断) with breast cancer (乳腺癌) and had a successful operation in 2011. Since then, she has fought against the disease for about four years while keeping singing, but sadly she failed. She originally thought of donating all of her organs (器官) to save others' lives, but failed to do it because of her serious illness.

    She's gone, even though she had never stopped struggling with cancer. Heaven just got another beautiful angel, with her beautiful voice and kindness.

    Mr. and Mrs. Black opened a small restaurant. In order to attract customers, they put a notice in front of the restaurant that said "Meals on the House for Three Days."

    A foreign student who didn't know much English happened to pass by the restaurant on the second day. It was lunchtime and he felt very hungry. "Well, here is a restaurant. I am going to have something to eat."

    He walked towards the restaurant when he saw the notice. "American people are really strange. They even eat dinners on their houses! But how can I get up to the top of the house?" he said to himself.

    He looked around and found a ladder against a tree nearby. He started climbing up. But as he reached the top, he heard someone shouting at him.

    "Hey, what are you doing up there?" Mr. Black shouted at him. Next to him was a policeman. "Doesn't your notice say 'Meals on the House for Three Days'? Is it just a joke?" the foreign student answered.

    On hearing this, both Mr. Black and the policeman laughed. "Do you know what ON THE HOUSE means? Look it up in the dictionary," the policeman said.

    They say that "travel is the best teacher" and there is no better example of this idea than the Ming dynasty travel writer and geographer Xu Xiake (1587-1641). His book The Travel Notes of Xu Xiake, not only encouraged a love of travelling among Chinese people but provided important scientific information about the country's land and geography.

    Born into a wealthy Jiangyin family, Xu became interested in books about different places at anearly age and wanted to travel. When he was 18, however. Xu's father died and so, it seemed, did his travelling dreams. He now was responsible for the family farm and taking care of his 60-year-old mother as tradition required.

    But his mother had different ideas. Understanding her son, slove of travel and valuing the knowledge he could get from such experiences, this modern-thinking woman refused to keep her son at home. She agreed that Xu could travel for three months every year, when there was less farm work.

    So at the age of twenty and with his mother's support, Xu set off for the first time, leaving behind not only his mother but his new wife as well. He would repeat this goodbye each year for most of the next 30 years. During this time, he travelled throughout the Ming kingdom, carefully studying the lands he passed through and recording his experiences and many discoveries in a diary. This diary, which once had over 500,000 words, would eventually become The Travel Notes of Xu Xiake.

    Although rich, Xu avoided comfortable travel, preferring to go almost everywhere on foot. This way he could research the environment in detail and get a true picture of the natural world. Many of his trips were to hard-to-reach mountain areas, and through wild forests where few people lived. His willingness to face hardships came at a cost however. Progress was slow and tiring and he was frequently sick, robbed and beaten during his journeys

    Sadly Xu became seriously ill during his last and longest journey, a 4-year trip through the Southwest of China. He died in 1641, soon after returning to his hometown for the last time. When his diary was finally printed years after his death, much of it had been destroyed or lost. Although incomplete, it still made Xu a travelling legend around the world.

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◆Choosethe best travel package(包)

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◆Bookyour ticket earlier

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◆Buya guidebook

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