The least-visited countries in the world

    It's every traveler's dream — a corner of the planet still undisturbed by tourists. And obviously, such places do exist. The United Nations World Tourism Organization lately reported the four least-visited countries globally.

    Liechtenstein (69,000)

    The sixth smallest country in the world is also one of the most undiscovered.

    Lying between Austria and Switzerland, Liechtenstein is an outdoor enthusiast's playground. It's the only country in the world to be totally in the Alps and a summer destination for hiking and cycling and snow-covered skiing perfection in winter, for those who can afford it.

    French Guiana (199,000)

    French Guiana is the least-visited country in South America, with some of the world's most diverse plant and animal life.

    While there is much to attract tourists to the area, not least its miles of jungle, the construction is in need of some attention.

    Montserrat (9,000)

    Once a popular holiday spot, this Lesser Antilles island has never quite recovered from a series of natural disasters. Hurricane Hugo in 1989 hit 90 per cent of the island and in 1995 the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted.

    These days, its volcano is now actually one of Montserra's main attractions, together with its beautiful beaches. Visitors can also go diving in its clear waters.

    Comoros (24,000)

    This collection of islands in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar serves as the perfect destination for those who want to get away from everyday city life.

Comoros offers beautiful volcanic scenery, fruitful forests, and remote sleepy towns. There are even some of the best undiscovered reefs(礁) just waiting to be explored by divers.

    Popular music in America is what every student likes. Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class, and at lunch. Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the street.

    Adult drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work. They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, and the life of American people. Most of the radio programs are music.

    Pop or popular music singers make much money. They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in many places. Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tapes. Some of the money from these tapes goes to the singer. Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her. Now the singer has become a national star.

    There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans. One is called folk music. It tells stories about the common life of Americans. Another is called western or country music. This is started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows they were watching.

    Some of Australian cyclists have used "GPS art" to turn a 202 km (125 mile) ride into the outline (轮廓) of a goat, which interests many people greatly.

    The four men marked their route on an app before using it track their journey around Perth. When uploaded to the computer, it was shown as a picture. Cyclist Ben Jones said the group settled on a goat because it was an easy animal to draw. He said the ride lasted more than six hours, with the four men stopping only for food, and flat tyres. "Except for riding 202km,' it's relatively simple," Mr. Jones told the BBC. "You mainly mark your route on the app and it plans directions out."

    GPS art has also been widely used by runners and other cyclists when they travel out. Mr. Jones said his group wanted to shake up their normal weekend ride. "We all ride 10, 000km to 15, 000km a year," he said. "Mostly we just ride together as mates and have a good time—that's what this was about."

    The group received much attention after posting their map to social media this week. Others described Mr. Jones as a goat guy in an interview on Australian television. For their next piece of GPS art, the group plans to draw a local animal such as the koala. "Certainly, there'll be something coming, for we are making our decisions to put more and more plans into practice. I'm sure of that," Mr. Jones said.

Bradley McConachie, a 33-year-old Australian is actually a student in international relations completing his PhD through Griffith University. He came to Beijing for a cooperative research at Beijing University two years ago. Such an academic life was colorful with a chance offered by the cultural exchanges project, "I'm in China".

Bradley was lucky to win the most "likes" for his photo story about his life in China and became one of 20 winners to visit locations by the project this summer. All the winners' experiences were filmed to produce a reality show, My Chinese Working Day, which will be broadcast by mid-September.

Bradley was chosen to work as a recreational manager for a Chinese wedding. The film crew took them to many "amazing sites" and the staff at the resort taught them a lot about how to incorporate modern Chinese features while still keeping traditional customs.

"I would have to say two things stick out as the most memorable: the helicopter ride and talking with the staff at the hotel about how they organize weddings here in China," he said. That was Bradley's first time to be in a helicopter, and he was too absorbed with the "stunning" view of the coastline.

"I think it is so important to show other Australians the different landscapes China has to offer. I think so many Australians, when they think about China, imagine the historical sites of Beijing and the exciting things to see in Shanghai but have no idea about other beautiful places, like Sanya or the many other places people have been taken to in this TV series. It was nice to experience these little touches. I was happy to be a part of that experience!" Bradley said.

Would you drink water that had once been flushed down a toilet? After it's been cleaned, that is. The climate is warming, and the population of drought-prone states California continues to grow. So recycling wastewater into drinking water may become a necessity.

But, it can be really hard for people to get over their disgust at the thought of drinking recycled water. People are grossed out by cycled water, because it was once wastewater—you know, the stuff that goes down your kitchen drains, your showers, your toilets. And even though it's cleaned up to a standard that is identical, if not better, than commercially bottled water, the key barrier to recycled water acceptance is people's disgust regarding it, " said Daniel Harmon, a psychologist in University of California.

In one experiment, the researchers had some participants watch a short video promoting water conservation. And in another experiment, they added a video explaining why recycled water might trigger disgust even though all pollutants have been removed. And neither video had a strong effect on people's willingness to drink recycled water or to support the practice.

The messages were not enough to get them to actually use recycled water more. "Disgust is such a powerful reaction that simply giving more information is not going to really be effective. " The study appears in the journal Basic and Applied Social Psychology.

Researchers say it's probably going to take a lot more to get people to embrace recycled water. For example, it might help to see members of their community drinking water that's gone, as it's called, from "toilet to tap, " with no ill effects.

It is clear that these kinds of more direct campaigns for acceptance are necessary to get people to get over that psychological barrier—to take that first sip, so to speak. Cheers!

Dear Mary,

How are you? I saw you posted some wonderful photos of the coastline near your hometown. You're really getting into your photography! Right now I'm taking a break to write you an email.

Remember you said you'd like to come over to the UK sometime this year? Well, I was thinking that this year you might like to come to the Edinburgh Festival with me in August. I've got an aunt with a flat in the city center who could put us up.

Do you know much about the festival? It's very famous — the biggest, most popular arts festival in the world! There are lots of things going on — art exhibitions, concerts of all kinds, modern dance, a book festival, etc. The thing it's most famous for is the newest and most exciting theatre. People come from all over the world and perform in their own languages.

In Scotland you have the best of both worlds: culture and wild land. After the festival, we could hire a car and go up to some of the islands off the west coast, like Skye. The weather can be changeable in August, but the landscape is beautiful, with empty beaches and rocky mountains. It's the perfect place for you to take photos. Afterwards, we could head back to the east coast and visit my friend Rob in St. Andrews. It's really pretty and Rob's enjoyable to be with. You'd get on well with him.

So, why don't you have a think about it and then get back to me? Take your time, there's no rush.

Speak to you soon.

Yours,

Sophie