Finding the Real You

    Psychometric testing—personality testing—has been very popular nowadays as studies show their results to be three times more accurate in predicting your job performance. These tests are now included in almost all graduate recruitment (招聘) and are widely used in the selection of managers.

    The most popular of these personality tests is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). It is based on the theory that we are born with a tendency to one personality type which stays more or less fixed throughout life. You answer 88 questions and are then given your “type”, such as Outgoing or Quiet, Feeling or Thinking.

    Critics of personality testing raise doubts about “social engineering”. Psychologist Dr. Colin Gill warns that the “popular” personality traits (特性) have their disadvantages. “People who are extremely open to new experiences can be butterflies, going from one idea to the next without mastering any of them.” However, the psychometric test is here to stay, which may be why a whole sub-industry on cheating personality tests has sprung up. “It's possible to cheat,” admits Gill, “but having to pretend to be the person you are at work will be tiring and unhappy and probably short-lived.”

    So can we change our personality? “Your basic personalities fixed by the time you're 21,”says Gill, “but it can be affected by motivation and intelligence. If you didn't have the personality type to be a doctor but desperately wanted to be one and were intelligent enough to master the skills, you could still go ahead. But trying to go too much against type for too long requires much energy and is actually to be suffered for long. I think it's why we're seeing this trend for downshifting—too many people trying to fit into a type that they aren't really suited for.”

    Our interest in personality now exists in every part of our lives. If you ask an expert for advice on anything, you'll probably be quizzed about your personality. But if personality tests have any value to us, perhaps it is to free us from the idea that all of us are full of potential, and remind us of what we are. As they say in one test when they ask for your age: pick the one you are, not the one you wish you were.

    Hilton Head Island, in South Carolina, is a popular vacation spot on the East Coast of the US. There are 250 restaurants on the island. You can try the following excellent restaurants.

    Skull Creek Boathouse

    397 Squire Pope Road

    843-681-3663

    It's a good place for seafood lovers. Lunch is served daily from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., dinner from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and weekend lunch is served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The menu is mostly seafood.

    Quarterdeck

    32 Greenwood Road

    1-866-561-8802

    The view from this restaurant is wonderful. You have many choices, such as beef, burgers and soups. Open for lunch and dinner, the hours are 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for lunch, and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for dinner.

    Frankie Bones

    1301 Main Street

    843-842-4033

    They are open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. For lunch you can enjoy sandwiches, salads, rice, and pasta dishes. The entrée (主菜) is served with soup or salad. The salad also has cheese, pine nuts and dried berries.

    Mellow Mushroom

    33 Office Park Road

    843-686-2474

    If you want something different, stop in at the Mellow Mushroom. They have specialty (特色菜) pizzas, salads, and sandwiches. If you enjoy wines, you'll surely find something you like. It is open 7 days a week — Sunday through Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

    From American Express, wedding guests will, on average, spend $673 on each wedding they attend this year. It includes airfare （$225）, hotel （$170）, dining out （$116）and dressing up （$95）and the gift. If you have weddings to attend this year, here are some tips for you to avoid breaking the bank.

    ⒈Book flights in advance

    The moment you decide to attend a wedding is the time to check flight prices at the best time. Plane fares are higher in the summer, especially in July and August. Booking in advance will save you money, as will watch for sales on lower﹣cost carriers like JetBlue and Frontier. You can check Google Flights for a calendar of prices showing the cheapest days to fly from apps like Hopper to get real﹣time alerts when a fare is at its lowest price point.

    ⒉Don't blow your budget on the gift

    If you've got the money, an expensive gift is lovely. But there's no need to take out loans to prove your love for the happy couple. Skip an expensive necklace by giving （an appropriate amount of） cash instead. To save on the gift, consider making one： A photo album or scrapbook of memories with the bride and groom shows how much you care. You could also share the gift with other guest(s) or even make gifts with DIY ideas by yourself to save money.

    ⒊Use old dresses and suits

    You don't always have to be on a new dress for a wedding. While men have the option of repeating their suits, women are more likely to spend money on new clothes for the special occasion. But before you take out your wallet, consider reinventing something already in your closet. Belts, colorful scarves, shoes can bring life to any outfit.

72 hours in Beijing

    Traveling to China is no longer a luxury for many foreign passport holders. The Chinese government has permitted a 72-hour visa-free policy that offers access to visitors from 53 countries including the US, France and Austria. Let's start with the capital of China, Beijing Here's a pick of the best in Beijing!

    Mutianyu Great Wall

    Your trip to Beijing isn't really complete without seeing one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World", the Great Wall of China. The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is by far the most well-preserved of all. Taking a one hour bus ride, Mutianyu would be your ideal location for a half-day of hiking away from the large crowds in the city. Also, the authorities have allowed tourists to paint graffiti on a specific section of the Great Wall since 2014. The Great Wall was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.

    798 Art Zone

    This would be on the top of my list! Named after the 798 factory that was built in the 1950s, the art zone is home to various galleries, design studios, art exhibition spaces, fashionable shops and bars. You could easily spend half your day wandering around the complex, feeling the contrast of the present and the past.

    Summer Palace

    Located in northwestern Beijing, the Summer Palace is by far the city's most well-preserved royal park. With its huge lake and hilltop views, the palace offers you a pastoral escape into the landscape of traditional Chinese paintings. The Summer Palace was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.

    Sichuan Provincial Restaurant

    While in Beijing, apart from trying the city's best-known Peking duck, the Sichuan provincial restaurant is one of places where you can enjoy regional delicious food. It offers one of China's eight great cuisines, Sichuan, which ranges from Mapo tofu to spicy chicken.

With more recognition than Halloween and less than Christmas, Valentine's Day as an imported festival faces a dangerous situation in China, where it's caught between forces of tradition and fashion. Valentine's Day has a natural enemy in China. And it is not the Chinese equivalent, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar, usually around half a year away from Feb. 14. It is the Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year, that will influence the Feast of Saint Valentine.

The real disagreement between East and West probably took place over a century ago, when China's door was forced open by Western powers and Chinese scholars supported westernization as a means to strengthen our nation's ability to compete.

The introduction of the solar calendar and Western measurements was both an acknowledgment of their influence and an effort to be accepted by the world order.

For a full century, we have had two systems running in parallel. When it comes to the eventual outcome, practicality usually beats all other concerns. Laws can help, such as the three traditional festivals of Tomb Sweeping, Dragon Boat and Mid­Autumn gaining legal status in 2008 and giving every Chinese citizen a day off, but laws cannot push what people have no feelings for. So, the celebration or boycott of imported holidays or homegrown ones should be no cause for worry. If they are irrelevant, no social media will change the public's mind; and if they are accepted, there must be a need which they happen to satisfy.

Since we have no global Qin Shihuang to force one system on every country, we can always rely on a dual (双重的) approach by which we share with the outside world on the one hand but preserve our own ways of life on the other.

Inspired by the movement to protect the Carmanah Valley and Clayoquot Sound, I decided to devote myself to producing images for conservation full-time in 1992. Since that time my work has taken me all over the world and my photos have appeared in many major magazines. However, many of my most rewarding moments have come from working on projects in British Columbia, Canada, and sharing those images in slide show tours I have given throughout Canada, the U. S. and Europe.

The more I travel and photograph in other parts of the world, the more I have come to realize the wilderness we have in Canada is truly special and rare.

I have always felt that as a photographer my goal is to approach the natural environment with the sense of wonder and curiosity that comes so naturally to children. This, I believe, is one of the basic keys not just to producing meaningful images, but more importantly, to gaining a full appreciation and enjoyment of the natural world.

I find that not only my best images, but also my most enjoyable experiences in nature, occur when I have an open mind and follow my intuition (直觉). When I feel drawn to a certain scene, I try to make the scene simple and not include anything that is not relevant. I also try all ways to look for beautiful light. Early morning and the end of the day almost always produce light that results in more pleasing images than those taken under the strong light in the middle of a sunny day. Soft cloudy skies are wonderful for photographing all day, especially in our beautiful forests or for small subjects like wildflowers. Rain, storms, and snow also provide wonderful opportunities for new and different kinds of images.