WELCOME

    Welcome to Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. Windsor is one the official residences (住所) of the Queen, who sometimes stays here.

    Audio tours

    Free audio tours are available on leaving the Admission Centre at the start of your visit. There is a descriptive audio tour for blind and poor-sighted visitors.

    Guided tours

    Visitors can explore the history of the Castle through a tour of the Precincts with an expert guide. Tours depart at regular intervals throughout the day from the Courtyard and finish at the entrance to the State Apartments.

    Visitors with children

    For those visiting with children, a special family tour and various activities are offered during school holidays and at weekends. Please note that, for safety reasons, pushchairs are not permitted in the State Apartments. However, baby carriers are available to borrow.

    St George's Chapel

    Visitors arriving at the Castle after 15:00 from March to October are advised to visit St George's Chapel first, before it closes.

    Shopping

    Shops offer a wide range of souvenirs designed for the Royal Collection, including books, postcards, china, jewellery, and children's toys. Please ask at the Middle Ward shop about our home delivery service.

    Refreshments

    Bottled water can be purchased from the Courtyard and Middle Ward shops. From April to September ice cream is also available, Visitors wishing to leave the Castle for refreshments in the town may obtain re-entry permits from the castle shops. Eating and drinking are not permitted in the State Apartments or St George's Chapel.

    Photography and mobile phones

    Non-commercial photography and filming are welcomed in the Castle. Photography, video recording and filming are not permitted inside the State Apartments or St George's Chapel. Mobile phone must be switched off inside the State Apartments and St George's Chapel in consideration of other visitors.

    Security

    As Windsor Castle is a working royal palace, visitors and their belongings should get through airport-style security checks. For safety and security reasons a one-way system operates along the visitor route.

    There was good news last week for people who struggle to get eight hours of sleep a night: they may not need so much shut-eye after all.

    Researchers from UCLA and elsewhere looked at sleep habits of remote hunter-gatherers in Tanzania, Namibia and Bolivia — groups with pre-industrial lifestyles whose sleep patterns are believed to reflect those of ancient humans. The researchers found that, on average, members of each group sleep a bit less than six and a half hours a night.

    The study, published in the academic journal Current Biology, indicates that “natural” sleep is less than eight hours a night and that modern society's numerous electronic distractions (分心) aren't necessarily to blame for people getting just six or seven hours of sleep.

    “The story that often gets out is that if you sleep for less than seven hours, you're going to die early,” he told me. “That's not true.”

    Yet Americans are addicted to getting more sleep — and on turning to medical shortcuts to help them.

    According to the Centers for Disease Control, as many as 70 million U.S. adults suffer from sleep disorders or sleeplessness. Only a third of Americans get the government's recommended seven to nine hours of sleep a night.

    About 9 million American adults use sleeping pills to help get a good night's rest, the CDC found. Siegel said the number of people relying on medicines “has gone up rather rapidly since then.”

    Industry consulting firm Global Data estimates that worldwide sales for sleeplessness medicines will run about $1.4 billion next year and reach $1.8 billion by 2023, recovering from lower sales in recent years because of cheaper generics(仿制药) hitting the market.

    Dr. Roy Artal, a sleep specialist in West Los Angeles, said it's understandable that busy people in today's go-go world would turn to medicines to speed up the sleep process. But all they're doing is building a reliance on powerful drugs for relatively little improvement.

    “There's no magic pill that makes us sleep when we want and wake up when we want,” Artal said. “The effects of sleeping pills tend to be modest.”

    He and other experts say the answer to sleeplessness isn't to be found in a pill bottle. It's in what's called “sleep hygiene (保健).”

    Trip 1 Black Bear Count

    There have been fires in this area in the last few years and the Office of the National Park is not sure how many black bears are still living. Some bears have been seen since the fires, and the office has asked for young people to help count them. The entire trip will last three hours. Booking is necessary.

    Cost: Free                   When: May 8

    Trip 2 Garland Valley

    Bring your drink and lunch for this walk in a beautiful area of the Blue Mountains. Garland Valley is close to the town of Garland but is part of the National Park. Many wild animals live in this area, including many rare birds. This is a great walk for bird-lovers. The trip lasts four hours. Booking is necessary.

    Cost: $ 15                  When: May 8, May 15

    Trip 3 Flashlight Adventure

    Put on your warm clothes, bring a flashlight and a pair of glasses, and come for a night walk along the Dungog Valley. A guide will lead the tour. You will see many of the animals on this trip. The guide will tell you about the lives of the animals you see. Numbers are strictly limited on night trips, so be sure to book early. This walk lasts two and a half hours.

    Cost: $ 12                  When: May 8, May 15, May 22

    Equipment to be needed:

    Please bring enough water and food for all walks

Wear good walking shoes—no high heels.

    Wear a hat for day walks.

    Dress warmly for night walks.

    Children must be with an adult.

    Make sure your flashlight works well and bring extra batteries for night walks.

    Follow all instructions from guides during the walks. The mountains are a dangerous place.

    Bookings:

Booking for the above trips can be made by telephone (893—4847) or on the Internet at www.Bluemountaintour.com.

    Tenzing left his home when he was ten to work and help his mother, who was looking after their 2-acre ancestral farm after his father's death. He did temporary jobs for the first few years and then joined a Malaysian construction firm, where he learnt to drive, repair machines, work on the Internet and even speak English fluently.

    “In those 13 years, I learnt everything—driving, mechanic work, and how to set up a small factory. This made me gain much confidence to do almost all jobs,” says Tenzing.

    However, as his mother was getting older, on December 12, 2006, Tenzing returned to his hometown in Assam. Having visited several farms, he came to know that tea could be easily exported and many tea companies were buying tea; so he also decided to grow tea on his farm. But as his family had never grown tea, he had no idea how to do it.

    Being a green hand in this field, Tenzing went to meet with many tea experts and followed their instructions. But whenever he sprayed pesticide (农药)on his farm, he'd get a headache and feel indisposed. So he started looking for alternatives. Tenzing did his research online and finally in 2007, he connected with people from a Canadian non-governmental organization and invited them to his farm, where they trained him. Thus, Tenzing started growing tea organically.

    Today Tenzing has 25 acres of land, of which 7.5 acres is used for tea planting, and he grows almost all types of fruits and vegetables. His success inspired many, and farmers from other parts of the country also started coming to his farm to learn organic farming. He has trained about 30,000 farmers so far. Every year almost 100 tourists visit his farm from various parts of the world like the UK, Australia, Germany, etc.

    Michael Jackson was on the road of performing when he was five years old. As is known to all, the road to fame and fortune is a long, hard one.

    Michael remembers those early years when he was young." My father was a machine operator," he explained, "and he worked at a steel plant. My mother worked at Sears, a big department store. But they were both musicians."

    Michael's father Joe Jackson realized his sons had a lot of talent, and he knew he could train them to become fine musicians. In those days there were plenty of music groups and some of them were very good. He knew if his sons were to stand out, they would have to be the best.

    Practice makes perfect. And the Jackson boys practised! Gradually the group took shape. Then word of this group began to get around. Thus Michael got a chance to do some solo(独唱) songs. In the following years, Michael was always on the top. One million records of his were sold in New Zealand, which has only a total population of three million!

    When Michael was eighteen, he entered another field of his career(生涯)—acting. "I plan to star in movies," he told his friends, "but of course, my first love is music."

    Michael wrote a lot of his own songs. "Songs came about in the strangest ways," he said, "I'll just wake up from sleeping and there is a whole song coming into my head. And then I put it down on the paper."

    Still, with all his success, Michael managed to keep his head calm. "I just do a different job from other people," he said, "but it doesn't make me think I'm better than other people."

    To be quite honest, his fans just love to hear and watch him!

    University of Pennsylvania researchers say that for the first time they have linked social media use to increases in depression and loneliness. The idea that social media is anything but social when it comes to mental health has been talked about for years, but not many studies have managed to actually link the two. To do that, Penn researchers, led by psychologist Melissa Hunt, designed a study that focused on WeChat, Snapchat and Instagram.

    The study was conducted with 143 participants, who before they began, completed a mood survey and sent along photos of their battery screens, showing how often they were using their phones to access social media. "we set out to do a study which attempts to imitate real life." Hunt said.

    The study divided the participants into two groups: The first group was allowed to maintain their normal social media habits. The other, the control group, was restricted to 10 minutes per day on social media. The restrictions were put in place for three weeks and then tested for now comes such as fear of missing out, anxiety, depression and loneliness.

    The results showed a very clear link between social media use and increased levels of depression and loneliness." Using less social media then you normally do would lead to significant decreases in both depression and loneliness " Hunt said.

    Social media invites what Hunt calls "downward social comparison." "When you're online, it can sometimes seem that everyone else is cooler and having more fun and included in more things and you're left out," Hunt said. And that's just generally discouraging. "Every minute you spend online is a minute you are not doing your work or not meeting a friend for dinner or having a deep conversation with your roommate." And these real life activities are the ones that you can encourage self-esteem and self-worth, Hunt added.

    "People are on their devices, and that's not going to change," she said. But as in life, a bit of control goes a long way.