In Washington, Virginia and Maryland, the final months of the year have many festivals. Whether you are into a theatre environment, medieval times or a book festival, there is an event for you.

1). Maryland Renaissance Festival

    The festival, now in its 38th season, features 12 stages and hundreds of costumed actors offering entertainment such as music and theatre performance, sword swallowing and a human chess match. Sept. 21 through Oct.19.

2). Baltimore Book Festival in Maryland

    This three-day fair features talks and book signings from more than 275 locally and nationally known authors, including Alice McDermott and Andre Dubus III. The festival also includes live music and literary hands-on projects for kids. Sept. 26-28.

3). Middleburg Film Festival in Virginia

    The festival offers a relaxed theatre environment, and the events include a dancing party, an orchestra performance of horror film music by Marco Beltrami, and a discussion with Colleen Atwood, who is a famous costume designer. Oct. 30 through Nov.2.

4). Temple Hall Corn Maize and Fall Festival in Virginia

    The 286-acre farm offers a lot of family-friendly entertainment, including pig races, farm animals and camel rides. Grab seasonal goods at the farmers' market, take part in the corn harvest, and hear live bluegrass and folk music. Friday through Sunday, Sept. 26 through Nov.2.

5). Kids Euro Festival in Washington

    Here is a chance to celebrate and experience European arts and Culture, no passports required. Twenty-eight European countries will be represented during the multicultural children's event, which features more than 200 performances and workshops. The festival is for children ages 2 through 12, librarians and educators. Activities include puppet shows, cooking and theatre workshops. “It really brings Europe to the children, ” said organizer Sandi Auman. Oct. 24 through Nov. 9

    Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English ruler tried to conquer(征服) Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921, the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result in that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland, in the south is an independent country.

    In the 1840s the main crop, was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of hunger. This, and a shortage(短缺) of work, forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.

    For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people will work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.

    The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly. Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Creeks”. Since independence, Ireland has revived(复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish songs which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.

    The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the island of Hawaii, has two active volcanoes: Mauna Loa, which last erupted (喷发) in 1984, is 13,677 feet (4.17 km) above sea level; Kilauea is next to Mauna Loa and it has been erupting since January 3rd, 1983. It is 4,190 feet (1.23 km) above sea level.

When to visit

    The park is open 24 hours a day all year round. There are no plants or trees on the lava (火山岩) fields and no protection from the sun, so you must bring sunscreen (防晒霜).

    How to get there

    The best way to get to the park is to take Highway 11. From the airport at Hilo, Highway 11 will take you southward across the eastern part of the island.

    Things to see

    If you want to know more about the park, the Kilauea Visitor Center is surely a stop to make. It is a quarter of a mile (402 m) from the park entrance. There, you can see a great movie about real lava and learn about the island's natural and cultural history. The center is open from 7:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. There are also many guided walks and hikes around the park. You must check weather conditions and volcanic activity before hiking alone. If possible, you may drive down Chain of Craters Road to see lava flowing into the ocean.

    Tickets

    Entrance to the park is $10.00 for each vehicle, $5.00 for those who travel on foot or ride a bicycle. Children under the age of 15 are free.

    WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property services, policy, information and cooperation. We are a self﹣funding agency of the United Nations, with 191 member states.

    Our mission is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international intellectual property （IP） system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all.

    Our mandate, governing bodies and procedures are set out in the WIPO convention, which established WIPO in 1967.

    We run workshops and seminars throughout the year. The presentations and meeting documents are made available for downloading wherever possible here.

Current and upcoming

    Case Study Workshop on Support for Intellectual Property Management in SMEs （IP Advantage）

    National Workshop on Intellectual Property Policies for Universities and Research Institutions

    Consultation meetings with the Industrial Property Protections Directorate of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and supply and the main relevant institutions

    National seminar on collective management

    Ancient Chinese folk paintings and many other art styles have been passed down from generation to generation, and are still practised in different parts of China. Here's a look at four unique Chinese folk art forms.

    Chinese Opera (戏剧) is the traditional form of Chinese drama. According to incomplete statistics, in China's various ethnic regions there are about more than 360 kinds of operas. The most famous ones include Peking Opera, Kunqu Opera, Yueju Opera, Yuju Opera, Sichuan Opera, Fujian Opera, Hebei opera, Huangmei Opera arid so on, in total more than 50, among which Peking Opera is the most popular in China.

    Shadow Play (皮影戏) dates back to Western Han Dynasty in Shaanxi more than 1,000 years ago. The moving figures, usually carved out from leather, are operated by folk artists, accompanied by music and singing. It is the world's first dubbed (配音的) motion picture art form, thus considered the "ancestor" of modern film. Today this art form is still popular in northern China.

    Paper-cutting (剪纸) is one of the most popular traditional decorative arts in China with a long history. Paper-cutting can be seen across China and it has even developed into different local genres (流派). They are usually used to decorate gates and windows during festivals.

    The Kite was invented by Chinese people. According to legend the earliest kite in China was a wooden bird by Mo Di in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Later his student Lu Ban improved the tech and used bamboo as material to make a kite. Today, various kite-flying activities can be found in different regions of China. Shandong Weifang Kite Festival is held every year and attracts lots of kite lovers and travelers.

A person should eat right, and get some exercise, or he or she will look terrible in 25 years. And what if the person drinks and smokes? Even

1 . That's the message from the insurance company. The instrument, called "Future You", uses a digital camera and computer to compare a person's current image with his or her future 2 without changes in bad habits. 

"Smoking can 3 your skin," said Anna, a creative operation manager. "You can see what the results of the toxins(毒素) and the chemicals in 4 are." Along with the potentially 5 sight of one's older self, "Future You" offers science-based advice on what to eat, how much to exercise and other ways to 6 your health. But will it work? Too 7 to tell was the verdict(意见) of Anna. "I want to see some data!" she said. Generally, Anna said, men show 8 concern about their appearance than women. "Women say, 'That looks like my

9 on the screen,'" she said. "Men are more likely to say, 'Yeah, go ahead. Put it on the blog.'" The project was raised more than a year ago to improve the overall health of the people who are 10 of this company. In addition, the growth in the ranks of 11 customers would bring down the overall cost of health care. In coming weeks, two new ones will be 12 in locations such as the American Tobacco Campus and the Museum of Natural Science. If users agree, their information will be stored as secrets without names to create a database of good and bad 13 . 

The process is free and the response is not bad, at least according to Valencia Robertson, one of a line of people who waited to 14 the instrument on Thursday. "I'm good," Robertson said after 15 her future image. "It's not going to be a big difference."