Taiwan island, the biggest island of China, is between the South and East China Seas. Almost two-thirds of the island is covered by mountains.

    Traveling in Taiwan, you can do lots of things. In Taipei, you can taste all kinds of delicious food . Standing at the top of Taipei 101, the world's tallest building until now, you can get a view of the whole city.

    Taiwan has nice natural landscape as well. Sun and Moon Lake is a beautiful lake. On one side of the island it looks like the sun, on the other side it looks like the moon. That is why people call the lake the Sun and Moon Lake. Ali Mountain is the nearest mountain around Sun and Moon Lake. You can enjoy a nice experience with Gaoshan people. It's a wonderful place to see a very beautiful sunrise. If you enjoy swimming, fishing, boating and eating delicious fruit and fresh fish, Peng Lake must be a good place to visit. Everywehere in Taiwan, you can see mountains, valleys(山谷), and hot springs, together with fields of rice, oranges and tea.

    Different countries have different customs(风俗) in the world. It's very important for us to know about them.

    When you go to the US, someone often says to you "give me five". What should you do? Do not get five dollars from your pocket! It will make others laugh! The person is not asking for your money, but your fingers.

    In the US, "give me five" or "give me the high five" is a popular gesture. You can see it often in films or on TV. It means hitting(敲打) each other's right hands together.

    People do it when they meet for the first time or something happy happens. For example, a student good grades in exams. If a football teams wins a game, the players will give high fives to everyone around to celebrate.

    This gesture may come from the old Roman gesture of raising the right arm for the empor. This showed the person raising his arm did not have a knife in his hand.

    Why not try to give the high five to your friends?

    The Silk Road is the name of different roads that long ago connected Europe, Africa and Asia. People reached these different places along these roads. Scientists believe people began to travel the Silk Road about 3000 years ago. By the time the Chinese silk trade became important in the world. The Silk Road covered almost 6500 kilometers. It went from Rome to China, which is from the West to the Far East.

    Merchants travelled along the Silk Road to carry silk, of course. They also carried and traded other things like spices (香料), cloth, jewels and gold.

    Along and around these ancient path(小路), have come many fascinating and mysterious stories.

    It is said that Roman soldiers who lost a war travelled through central Asia. They decided to live somewhere near the ancient Chinese villages. Some of these Romans married local Chinese women and the legend of the blond-haired, blue-eyed tribes of China was started.

    Some historians believe that the people of Kashmir were taken away from their country Israel. They were prisoners (俘虏) of war almost 2800 years ago. People say that these people travelled along the Silk Road. They kept their Jewish way of life for a long time.

    During its busiest period, the Silk Road allowed people from many different cultures and countries to meet each other and mix. The Silk Road allowed the sharing of valuable things and new ideas. It included people and trading goods from different areas. All these peoples travelled the Silk Road. And they shared goods, stories, languages, and cultures.

    In modern times, the old Silk Road routes (路线) are still used, but now they are crossed by trains instead of camels and horses. There is even silk route museum in Jiuquan in China. It has over 35, 000 objects from all along the Silk Road. In this way, China protects the history of many countries and peoples.

    When 4-year-old Prince George started his first day of school in September. Chinese language was on his curriculum(课程).

    And he wasn't alone. It is reported that about 51 percent of the parents in the UK want their children to learn Chinese, as it's believed to be one of the most useful languages to know.

    In the popularity of Chinese drove the UK government to start the Mandarin Excellence Programme in September last year. It aims to make at least 5.000 British state secondary school students be good at speaking Chinese by 2020.

    Yet, the UK isn't the only country showing a growing interest in Chinese.

    The language has become the second most spoken foreign language in the United States this year, after only Spanish, with over 2.1 million speakers.

    Many US famous people such as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Malia Obama, former US president Barack Obama's daughter, study Chinese as a second language.

    So far, 67 countries and regions have included Chinese in their national curriculum. So why are so many countries enthusiastic about learning Chinese?

    One reason could be that as China continues to develop rapidly. Chinese is increasingly becoming a useful tool for people's personal and professional growth.

    "I think everyone believes that Chinese will be the next great superpower…even if it's not a superpower like America. It's still very important." Aisling from Germany, who studied at the Renmin University of China, told Xinhua News Agency.

    As we know, the 2012Olympic Games will be held in London, the UK. The torch relay (火炬接力) is starting. It begins on May 19, 2012and it ends on July 27. During the 70-day torch relay, it will pass through towns and cities including Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford, and Dover. London's Olympic Games will be held from July 27 to August 12.

    The Olympic Flame(火焰) will travel 8, 000miles across the UK. 8, 000torchbearers (火炬手) will carry the Olympic Flame for about 300meters each. Half of the torchbearers should be aged between 12and 24and the rest include people with a story of achievement.

    The torch was designed by Edward Barber and Jay Osger by. It looks like a large triangle (三角形), which stands for the three words faster, higher, stronger. It also means that London is hosting(举办) the Olympic Games for the third time. This is great in Olympic history. The torch has 8, 000circles, standing for the 8, 000torchbearers. The torch relay is one of the most important parts of the Olympic Games.