Planning a visit to the UK? Here we help with ways to cut your costs.

    AVOID BIG EVENTS  Big sporting events, concerts and exhibitions can increase the cost of accommodation and make it harder to find a room. A standard double room at the Thistle Brighton on the final Friday of the Brighton Comedy Festival (19 Oct.) cost £169.15 at Booking.com. A week later, the same room cost £118.15.

    If you can be flexible and want to know dates to avoid—or you're looking for a big event to pass your time—check out sites such as Whatsonwhen.com, which allow you to search for events in the UK by city, date and category.

    STAYAWAY FROM THE STATION If traveling to your destination by train, you may want to find a good base close to the station, but you could end up paying more for the sake of convenience at the start of your holiday.

    Don't be too choosy about the part of town you stay in. Booking two months in advance, the cheapest room at Travelodge's Central Euston hotel in London for Saturday 22 September was £95.95. A room just a tube journey away at its Covent Garden hotel was £75.75. And at Farringdon, a double room cost just £62.95.

    LOOK AFTER YOURSELF Really central hotels in cities such as London, Edinburgh and Cardiff can cost a fortune, especially at weekends and during big events. As an alternative consider checking into a self-catering flat with its own kitchen. Often these flats are hidden away on the top floors of city centre buildings. A great example is the historic O'Neill Flat on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, available for £420 for five days in late September, with room for four adults.

    GET ON A BIKE London's ‘Boris bikes' have attracted the most attention, but other cities also have similar programmes that let you rent a bicycle and explore at your own pace, saving you on public transport or car parking costs.

    Among the smaller cities with their own programmes are Newcastle (casual members pay around £1.50 for two hours) and Cardiff (free for up to 30 minutes, or £5 per day).  (358 words)

    Here are four wonderful hotels and campsites in Europe.

    Ekies All Senses Resort, Chalkidiki, Greece

    This could be the perfect retreat for stressed parents who need spoiling. For a start, it's in lovely Greece, but there's no need to take a ferry, as it's on the mainland. With a juice bar beside the(heated)pool, open-air spa, calm beach, restaurants or meals on demand, and secret bays to explore by boat, it makes for a super-relaxed break.

    Doubles from € 88, junior suite(sleeps 4)from €138 a night, family suite(sleeps6) from €272 B&B, open late

    April-October, i-escape.com

    Casa Vicentina, Algarve, Portugal

    For a back-to-nature feel, family-run Casa Vicentina in the Algarve is perfect. Built with ecological materials, it's in a protected park area on a natural lake. Breakfast is a plentiful buffet-and bikes are supplied free of charge so you can go to the beach or cafes and restaurants. Accommodation is in brightly decorated rooms or larger suites complete with small kitchens.

    Rooms from €75 B&B, wonderfulland. Com

    Fairy Chimney Inn, Cappadocia, Turkey

    Older kids will love the fairytale landscape of Cappadocia and the excitement of staying in a cave hotel. The Fairy Chimney Inn used to be part of a cave monastery(修道院). Its rooms are beautiful and homely, with traditional decorations and the occasional reminder of the modern world. All rooms have courtyards overlooking the  extraordinary landscape.

    Rooms from €55 B&B, plus 11 per child, fairychimney. Com

    Casa San Gabriel, Umbria, Italy

    Casa San Gabriel is a small hilltop farm where three self-catering cottages share a swimming pool, playground and barbecue. There's added excitement for young guests in the family of alpacas(羊驼)kept on site. There are several water, wildlife and activity parks nearby, and slightly further afield a Pinocchio theme park.

    A week at II Fienile cottage (sleeps 4-6)costs from €650, B&B (low season only) from €95, casasangabriel. com

    Among the most popular forms of dieting is the South Beach diet, developed by Arthur Agatston of Miami, Florida. Dr. Agatston developed the South Beach diet for his patients with heart problems to lose weight. Since weight matters a lot in keeping heart healthy and traditional low-fat diets were too difficult for them to stick to, Dr. Agatston decided to create a plan that could help his patients. At first, the diet was just for his patients. Soon, thanks to his patients' success, the diet became the buzz in Miami, and eventually, word spread across the nation.

    This diet focuses on a healthy balance between carbohydrates（碳水化合物）and fats. It is based on eating a combination of “good” carbohydrates and fats, while limiting those “bad” ones. It is divided into three different phases.

    The first phase lasts for two weeks and is the strictest of the three. During this phase, you are asked to restrict（限制）all carbohydrates (good and bad). You are allowed to eat all types of fish, cheeses, eggs, and nuts, and a large number of vegetables. Most dieters can expect to lose between 8 and 12 pounds during this phase.

    During Phase 2, you are allowed to reintroduce some of those carbohydrates that are not allowed before. You are encouraged to start eating carbohydrates that have a low glycemic index（升糖指数）. But you should keep in mind that the key is moderation（适度）. Most people continue to lose 1-2 pounds per week. You continue with this phase until you reach your target weight.

    Phase 3 is designed to help you keep your weight. During Phase 3, you can reintroduce some of the carbohydrates that have a higher glycemic index, although again, this should be in moderation. Phase 3 is meant to be a way of life.

    Although his 1-year-old smart-phone still works perfectly, Li Jijia already feels the need to replace it.

    "There are many better ones available now. It's time to upgrade(更新）my phone."

    Li's impatience is shared by many. Shortly after the season when new products are released（发布，发售）, many consumers feel the urge to upgrade their electronic equipment, even though the ones they have still work just fine.

    As consumers' minds are occupied by Apple's newly released products and debate whether the Google tablet is better than the new Amazon Kindle, it might be time to take a step back and ask: "Do we really need the latest upgrades?"

    According to Donald Norman, an American author, "planned obsolescence (淘汰）" is the trick behind the upgrading culture of today's consumer electronics industry.

    Electronics producers strategically release new upgrades periodically, both for hardware and software, so that customers on every level feel the need to buy the newest version.

"This is an old-time trick—they're not inventing anything new," Norman said. "This is a wasteful system through which companies--many of them producing personal electronics—— release poor-quality products simply because they know that, in six months or a year, they'll put out a new one."

    But the new psychology of consumers is part of this system, as Norman admitted, "We now want something new, something pretty, the next shiny thing." In its most recent year, Apple's profit margin(利润) was more than 21 percent. At Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest PC maker, it was only 7 percent.

    Apple's annual upgrades of its products create sales of millions of units as owners of one year's MacBook or iPhone line up to buy the newest version, even when the changes are slight.

    As to Li Jijia, the need for upgrading his smart-phone comes mainly from friends and classmates. When they are switching to the latest equipment, he worries about feeling left out.

    "Some games require better hardware to run," said Li. "If you don't join in, you lose part of the connection to your friends."

    If you live in a big city, there are many thing to drive you crazy on your daily route, and it's not just overcrowded subway trains.

    Vicky Zhao is a mainlander working in Hong Kong. For her, one thing she can't put up with is people standing on the wrong side of the escalator(自动扶梯) in subway stations. "Escalators help us move faster and save time. It isn't a place to rest," the 24-year-old says. "I often see tourists block the way with their suitcases or chatting on the escalators during rush hours. It annoys me to no end."

    Admitting she is not the patient type, Zhao says things are much better in Hong Kong than in cities on the mainland where "stand right, walk left" signs are often ignored.

    The logic behind the "stand right, walk left" escalator etiquette(礼仪) seems obvious. Even though you may want to catch your breath while you're transported up or down, you should still consider others and leave enough space for people in a hurry, so that they can run and catch the train.

    Many cities' escalators, including London's and Beijing's, use the "stand right, walk left" system to speed up the flow of people. (Australia is an exception and you should stand on the left side instead.) But some cities discourage people from moving on escalators out of safety reasons. In Hong Kong's subway stations there are regular announcements asking people to "stand still" on escalators. Even so, most people in this fast-paced city observe the "stand right, walk left" etiquette.

    But the people who stand on escalators defend themselves by telling the walkers not to be so impatient. The BBC quotes one stander as saying: "If the person is in such a rush, why not just take the stairs? Even when the escalator is packed and there's nowhere to move, I see these same people complaining about not being able to pass."

    Whatever the escalator etiquette is in the place you live or visit, do what most people are doing and always be mindful of others: leave enough space between each other, don't stay at the end of the escalator, and if someone is blocking your way, a simple "excuse me" is enough.

    Amazing Movies

    Are you looking for some movies? You've landed on the right place. Let's take a look at the list I've collected.