Marco Polo was born in Italy in 1254. When he was 17, he travelled across Europe and Asia along the Silk Road with his father, who wanted to do trade with the Chinese. Finally they arrived in Beijing. They were guests at the Emperor's Palace. Although Marco was young, he was very clever and could speak four languages. The Emperor was impressed by him and they became friends. He asked Marco to serve in his court and sent him to do many important tasks across the country.

    Marco was amazed by how beautiful China was. He was impressed by Beijing and the Emperor's Palace, especially the Summer Palace which he described as "The greatest palace that ever was..."The walls were covered in gold and silver and the hall was so large it could easily seat 6,000 people for dinner.

    There were inventions and developments in China which couldn't found in Europe at that time. Marco was surprised to see Chinese people using paper money in the markets. In Europe, people paid for goods with gold and silver. He could not understand how people paid for food and valuable things with paper! He was also puzzled by the black stones people used to burn to produce heat. The black stones were coal, but Marco had never seen coal before!

    In 1291, after 17 years of service to the Emperor, Marco returned to Italy. He was now a very wealthy man. A writer wrote down all the stories that Marco told him in a book called The Description of the World, which became one of the best - selling books in Europe.

    Although people enjoyed reading the book, many of them thought that Marco's stories about China were too fantastic to be true. But Marco always stood by his tales. Just before he died, aged 70, Marco was asked the question, "Was it all true?" And this was his answer, "I have only told a half of what I saw!"

   The Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui, known in the country for the "walking expression package", appeared at CCTV's annual Spring Festival Gala, the

   Most watched television program in China.

   Fu Yuanhui is a China's swimmer. She came third in Women's 100-meter backstroke(仰泳) finals at Rio Olympics in 2016. People became crazy about the 1996-borm girl, not because of her performance or her achievement, but because of her cheerful answers.

   Finishing the 100- meter backstroke with 58. 95 seconds, Fu thought it was 59 seconds, and she was quite surprised with the result. This was the first moment when she impressed Chinese audience(观众) with her surprising look and body language in front of the camera. The second time was her honest and direct answer to the question: "We know that your body condition was not that good in the past year and it's not easy to have such a result. Do you think you are now as good as before?" "It is my best score ever. I have worked for three months on the recovery(康复). Only the ghost knows, what I have come through," said Fu. "It was so painstaking that sometimes I felt like I was going to die."

   In the interview, Fu used a phrase "Hong Huang Zhi Li" to describe the great efforts she had made. The word soon became a popular word on the Internet.

It has been eight years since US astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian astronaut Mikhail Kornienko returned to the earth after living on the International Space Station(ISS) for 340 days. Times goes quickly, but it still means a lot as it is a record-setting journey — the longest time humans have spent living on the ISS.

▲Here is a small part of the book.

"I Can Look Down on the Earth"

From the ISS, I can look down on the earth. Some parts of the world are covered by gases(气体) from factories and cars. These parts make the earth look sick.

But one of my favourite parts is the Bahamas, which are islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean is a mix of deep and light blues. I am lucky to see it.

"My Room Is Small"

I've been here for three weeks already. Sometimes, I wake up and think I'm upside down. My room is just big enough for me. I sleep in a sleeping bag. However, from the outside, the station looks like huge cans (金属容器) connected to each other. It is about the size of a football field.

"The Hardest Thing Is Putting On Socks"

Getting dressed is a bit hard when you can't "sit" or "stand", but I've got used to it. The hardest thing is putting on my socks. There is no gravity(重力) to help me bend(弯腰) over. I have no trouble deciding what to wear. I wear the same things every day.

Today is Saturday. It's half past seven in the evening. Rick is in the living room reading a book. He is reading the story of a young man called Yang Zhiyang from Baoji, Shaanxi. 

Yang Zhiyang is 23 years old. His mum has ALS(渐冻症) and she has difficulty speaking and walking. Yang's father has to work to make money for the family. So Yang doesn't go to work. He has to take care of(照顾) his mum at home. 

To take good care of his mother, Yang looks at her eyes very often. When his mother wants to sleep, she looks at her room. Then, Yang takes her to the bedroom. When she wants to drink water, she looks at the water cup on the table. Then, Yang gets water for her. It's important for people with ALS to do exercise. Yang always takes his mother's hands and does exercise with her. To make it fun, Yang often sings to her. 

Taking care of the mother with ALS is not easy, but Yang says, "She is my mother. I'm just doing what a son needs to do. I want to do my best to help her live happily. "