Time is more precious than money for an increasing number of people who are choosing to live more with less—and liking it.

    Kay and Charles Giddens, two lawyers, sold their home to start a B&B hotel. Four years later, the couple dishes out banana pancake breakfast, cleans toilets and serves homemade chocolate chip cookies to guests in a B&B hotel surrounded by trees on a hill known for colourful sunsets.

    “Do I miss the freeways? Do I miss the traffic? Do I miss the stress? No,” says Ms. Giddens, “This is a phenomenon that's fairly widespread. A lot of people are revaluating their lives and figuring out what they want to do. If their base is being damaged, what's the payoff?”

    Simple living ranges from cutting down on weeknight activities to sharing housing, living closer to work, avoiding shopping malls, borrowing books from the library instead of buying them, and taking a cut in pay to work at a more pleasurable job.

    Vicki Robin, a writer, lives on a budget equal to a fifth of what she used to make. “You become conscious about where your money is going and how valuable it is,” Ms. Robin says, “You tend not to use things up. You cook at home rather than eat out…”

    Janet Luhrs, a lawyer, quit her job after giving birth and leaving her daughter with a nanny for two weeks. “It was not the way I wanted to raise my kids,” she says, “Simplicity is not just about saving money; it's about me sitting down every night with my kids to a candlelit dinner with classical music.”

    Mrs. Luhrs now edits a magazine, Simple Living, which publishes tips on how to buy recycled furniture and shoes, organize potluck dinners instead of expensive receptions, and generally how to consume less.

    Mrs. Luhrs explains, “It's not about poverty. It's about conscious living and creating the life you want. The less stuff you buy, the less money goes out of the door, and the less money you have to earn.”

China Daily—Last week, the Beijing municipal government released a list of 192 areas in the capital where spring blooms, including peach, magnolia, apricot and winter jasmine, can be enjoyed from March to May. The recommended spots cover an area of 22 square kilometers. Apart from admiring blooms, folklore performances, botany exhibitions and other activities will be put on. 20 travel routes for tourists looking to appreciate floral beauty in the countryside are issued in Hubei, too.

    South Korean drama Descendants of the Sun《太阳的后裔》 has collected more than 200 million views on iQiyi, the Chinese streaming website said Tuesday.

    "Descendants of the Sun", the first Korean show to premiere simultaneously in South Korea and China (中韩同步首播), is a love story between an Army captain (Song Joong-ki) and a doctor (Song Hye-kyo) who find themselves in a fictional war-torn country called Uruk, where both try to save lives.

    "The show has become the talk of the town everywhere. Some shows even had live phone conversations with viewers to discuss its popularity," a Chinese entertainment official said.

    To put things into perspective, a f ifth of South Korea's population is 10 million people. Just a little over that number tuned in to watch Descendants of the Sun.

    Enthusiastic customers snapped up(抢光) the first batch of tickets in just five minutes on Monday for the opening day of the Shanghai Disneyland park on June 16, temporarily crashing the official website.

"Within half an hour, clicks on the website (www.shanghaidisneyresort.com) reached more than 5 million. The massive volume resulted in our ticketing system temporarily malfunctioning."

    Ramadan is one of the most important festivals for Muslims. The name of the festival comes from the Arabic month in which it is celebrated. Ramadan is celebrated in countries all over the world, especially in Africa and the Middle East. The time for celebrating Ramadan varies each year. People celebrate it in the ninth month of the Arabic lunar calendar. During Ramadan, people must not eat during the day: from when the sun comes up to when the sun goes down, people celebrating Ramadan will not eat or smoke. When the sun has gone down, however, the celebration begins. People often stay up all night eating singing and dancing.

    In late spring, many people around the world celebrate Easter. The festival is a celebration of spring and it is also a religious holiday. It is the time for Easter bunnies and egg hunts, and of course for eating lots of delicious foods. Easter is celebrated in late March or early April but the exact dates are different form year to year. People celebrate Easter in different ways: in some countries, the Easter Bunny—a big rabbit—will visit and children will go on egg hunts, looking for eggs and candy that have been hidden by their parents. In other countries, Easter is a time for children to dress up like witches and go from door to door asking for candy—much like Halloween in the US. The Easter Bunny and the Easter Egg are popular symbols of the festival.

    Electric Shock

    Injuries caused by electric shock are fairly common. When a person has received an electric shock, no one should go near him/her until the current has been turned off.

    If a shock occurring at work or at home causes someone to lose consciousness（知觉）, electrical connection must be broken before anyone tries to give assistance. You should either turn off the switch at the mains or, if that is not possible, push the person away with a dry piece of wood.

    Treatment of Shock

    Look out for signs of shock. People who have been injured or who may have lost a lot of blood, or those who have had heart attacks, may be in deep shock. The signs to look for are faintness, paleness, a moist, sticky skin, shallow, rapid breathing and a fast but weak heartbeat.

    Shock can prove fatal, and it is essential to do something to prevent its developing. The best way to treat or prevent shock is to keep the patient lying down , better with the legs higher than the head; if possible, raise the lower part of the body on a rolled-up packet or similar object. Make the patient as comfortable as possible, loosening any tight clothing, and comfort him/her because fright increases the effects of shock.

    The Ministry of Construction has released the names of the first group of 20 national parks, including 9 Suzhou classical gardens: Zhuozheng Garden, Liu Garden, Wangshi Garden, Huanxiu Villa, Lion Grove, Yipu Garden, Ou Garden, Tuisi Garden and Canglang Pavilion.

    National parks refer to the famous city parks and gardens. Suzhou classical gardens are parts of China's precious cultural heritage (遗产) (all the 9 gardens are on the list of World Cultural Heritage) as well as a necessary part of the life of Suzhou citizens, not to mention they are also world-famous tourism resorts (胜地). In fact, their unique historical and cultural background serves to contribute to their ranking among national parks.

    The earliest classical gardens in Suzhou can date back to the Song Dynasty. However, the gardens impress their visitors not only with their age-old history but also with their delicate scenes, particularly Canglang Pavilion, Zhuozheng Garden, Lion Grove and Liu Garden, the most famous four that represent different styles of dynasties of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing.

    In 1978, an imitation（仿造物） of a Suzhou classical garden was set up by Chen Congzhou (the author of the book Suzhou Classical Gardens) in the City Museum of Art in New York, US, which was the first time ever to directly introduce Chinese ancient architecture to Westerners.

    If you'd like to go travelling, the following World Heritage Sites may be your best choices.

    Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area

    Jiuzhaigou Valley, which lies in the northern part of Sichuan Province, China, reaches a height of more than 4, 500m, with a series of different forests ecosystems. It's especially famous for its narrow landforms and excellent waterfalls. Some 140 kinds of birds also live in the valley, as well as a number of endangered plants and animals, including the giant panda. Jiuzhaigou Valley was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1992.

    Khami Ruins National Monument

    The city of Khami, which developed after the capital of Great Zimbabwe had been given up in the mid-16th century, is of great archaeological (考古的) interest. The discovery of objects from Europe and China shows that Khami was a centre for trade over a long period of time. It joined the World Heritage List in 1986.

    Henderson Island

    Henderson Island, which lies in the eastern South Pacific, is one of the few atolls in the world whose ecology (生态) has been untouched by humans. It is famous for the 10 plants and 4 birds that can only be seen on the island. It was recorded in the World Heritage List in 1988.

    Old City of Jerusalem

    As a holy city for three different religions (宗教) in the Middle East, Jerusalem has always been of great religious importance  It was given a World Heritage status in 1981 and placed on the "List of World Heritage in Danger" the following year.