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Here is the news. Heilongjiang, the host province of the ninth Asian winter games, has unveiled its plan for this year's ice and snow season, and announced a slew of preparations for better receiving international visitors.
The games are scheduled from February 7 -14, 2025, in Harbin.
According to Yu Feng, Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, an International Tourism Distribution Centre has been set up in Habins Central Street, offering travel consultation, speciality commodities displays, baggage storage and guidelines on key scenic spots.
The province has set up some 1 ,400 P .O .S.
machines accepting foreign bank cards, 70 foreign currency exchange points and ATMs in hotels above the three -star level level, and tourist attractions above the 4a level, to ensure the convenience of payment for inbound tourists.
Meanwhile, key scenic spots in the Province are providing both English and Russian interfaces for on -line bookings.
The scenic areas have prepared multilingual signage and encouraged service staff to improve their foreign language skills.
Heilongjiang's winter tourism made headlines last season with Harbin as a top destination, halon, boosting domestic spending, and fueling local market growth.
In Ha Bin, the famed Ice Snow World theme park will span a record one million square meters this winter.
Wang Hongxin, director of the Ha Bin Department of Culture and Tourism revealed that, in addition, to the theme park, the city plans to build more than 500 ice and snow sports venues this winter, in locations including on the Songhua River, in the city's urban parks and open spaces, and on campuses and playgrounds.
The venues will allow both the public and tourists to enjoy ice and snow sports, including skating, curling and ice hockey.
The 9th Asian Winter Games is expected to see record participation, with over 1 ,500 athletes from 34 countries and regions registered so far.
Heilongjiang has eyed the sports event as an important driver to further unleash its ice and snow economic potential.
A working group for the low -altitude economy has been inaugurated in South China's Shenzhen as part of efforts to develop the low -altitude economy in the Guangdong -Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area.
This initiative is part of the Greater Bay Area Standard Innovation Alliance, a non -profit organization formed by diverse stakeholders from social groups, businesses, academia and experts.
The Working Group brings together various institutions, including Macau University of Science and Technology, the University of Hong Kong, South China University of Technology, as well as Shenzhen Technology University and the Municipal Market Supervision Administration of Shenzhen.
The group plans to create innovative technical standards tailored for the low -altitude economy, as well as develop experimental scenarios and expand commercial applications within the sector.
It also aims to nurture a skilled workforce knowledgeable in technology, patents, and relative standards and carry out standardisation research in the sector, promote the integration with international standards and provide strong support for the high quality development of the local industry.
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China Southern Airlines has launched a bonded base for the aircraft's maintenance, repair and overhaul in northwest China's Xinjiangweiga Autonomous Region, boosting the aggregation of airport -related industries, and promoting high level opening up in the region.
The base, the first such facility in Xinjiang, is located in the Arumqi area of the China -Xinjiang pilot free -trade zone.
Han Wenshang, general manager of China Southern Airlines, said that the bonded service will leverage the Arumchi Diwapu International Airport to handle the maintenance, repair, and overhaul services of aircraft from around the world." Han noted that the business will attract more people and logistics to gather in Xinjiang and help develop a new bonded mode in foreign trade, better serving the construction under the Belt and Road Initiative.
At the same time, Xinjiang has put into use a public bonded warehouse allowing airlines to store and manage aviation materials together, enhancing the service efficiency and emergency response speed.
With the gradual improvement of the aviation industry chain, Xinjiang's airport -related economy has flourished, significantly increasing the air -cargo import and export volume in Arumchi.
As of September, the Arumchi de Waapu International Airport opened international passenger routes from Arumchi to 20 destinations in 16 countries including Kyrgyzstan, Turk Menistan and Tajikistan.
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A study conducted by multinational scientists has unveiled noticeable meltwater storage phenomena within the entire Greenland ice sheet, indicating 20 % upscaling in melt water runoff calculations.
As the Greenland ice sheet is the largest single contributor to global sea level rise, This new discovery challenges the reliability of regional climate models currently used to predict global sea level change.
Ran Jiangjun, leader of the international research team, noted that the meltwater runoff modeled from regional climate models may contain systematic errors.
The research findings have been published in the journal Nature, engaging scientists Scientists from China, the Netherlands, the United States as well as Denmark, Belgium, and other countries.
The Greenland ice sheet is currently the biggest single source of sea level rise driven by mass loss, largely due to Arctic amplification in an increasingly warming world.
Scientists estimate that if the Greenland ice sheet were to melt completely, it would result in an approximate 7 -meter rise in global average sea level.
Despite decades of global research on the mechanisms behind the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, The critical scientific question of how melt water evolves inside the ice sheet remains unresolved.
Rand explained that using remote sensing satellites and ground -based meteorological observations, researchers have been able to study changes in surface meltwater.
However, monitoring water hidden inside and beneath the ice sheet at high temporal and spatial resolutions has remained challenging.
The international team took 6 years to tackle this issue.
It was the first to utilize the Global Navigation Satellite System to reveal the evolution of melt water within and beneath the ice sheet.
According to the study, meltwater may be temporarily stored in various locations, including surface lakes, fern, and glacial cavities at the ice bedrock interface or as groundwater en route to the ocean, By analysing bedrock elastic deformation, measured by the global navigation satellite system, scientists found the buffered melt water causes a subsidence of the bedrock at most 5 millimetres during the melt season.
According to RAN, if scientists continue to use models with the 20 % error margin for predictions over the next 100 years, it may significantly undermine the reliability of those forecasts and affect decision -making.
Additionally, this discovery of change in bedrock has important implications for maintaining the millimeter level global vertical reference system.
system. The ongoing rise in sea levels causes significant social and economic challenges for coastal regions worldwide.
Scientists believe this research not only sheds light on the dynamics of the Greenland ice sheet, but also underscores the urgent need for more accurate climate models to inform global climate policy and public awareness efforts.
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Infrared cameras have captured images of snow leopards in southwest China's Yunnan province for the first time, confirming the presence of this endangered species in the province.
According to the Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau, two snow leopards were spotted at altitudes of 4 ,500 metres within the city of Shangri -La and 4 ,800 metres in Deh -Chin County, respectively.
The recordings were made in February this year.
The former position is 20 km to 40 km from the nearest known habitation area of snow leopards in Sichuan Province, while the latter is 90 km to 100 km away.
Zhang Shuelong, a researcher at the Kunming Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that due to the high -altitude distribution of snow leopards and the lack of systematic surveys, the species had not been photographed in the wild in Yunnan for many years, leading to uncertainty about their presence in the province.
Jiang noted that the recent sightings in the northwestern part of Yunnan not only confirmed the species presence in the province, but also represents one of its southernmost distribution records within China.
Based on the latest distribution findings, zoologists believe that the Three Parallel Rivers area at the junction of Yunnan, Sichuan and Shizang is an important corridor and habitat for the snow leopard populations in the Hangduan Mountains.
The zoologists at the institute said that there may be other potential snow leopard distribution areas within Yunnan, known as the king of the snow mountains.
The snow leopard is under first -class national protection in China and and is listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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The Curtain of Winter is slowly drawing open in the Northern Hemisphere.
As the northwest wind sweeps across China, the air grows increasingly chilly.
sea. In many northern regions, the landscape is adorned with fallen leaves, and bare branches reach towards the sky.
Yet, the chilly wind doesn't stop in the north.
Winter spreads its frosty vibes southward, claiming more ground with every passing moment.
comment. This natural phenomenon heralds the arrival of the second winter solar term on the traditional Chinese calendar, known as minor snow, or xiao xuei, in Chinese.
It falls on November the 22nd this year.
The character xiao means small or minor while xue means snow.
However the name xiao xue doesn't imply that the snowfall is minor in quantity as you might hear from the weather report.
Instead it signifies the timing when snowfall may begin with the intensity expected to be light.
As the solar term rolls in, temperatures will continue to drop, but the coldness is not yet severe, and the precipitation remains relatively modest, and there is an activity that's perfect for this kind of weather, pickling veggies.
The cold and relatively dry weather is perfect for pickling various vegetables.
These tangy and crunchy delights not only satisfy the taste buds, but also bring a nutritional boost to the winter table.
Starting with chow shui, Chinese families wash, dry, salt, and store fresh vegetables in crocs or jars.
The practice of pickling in China has a history of over three thousand years.
Around one thousand five hundred years ago, Jia Cixie, an agricultural scholar, wrote an important ancient Chinese agricultural document called qi -min yau -shu, important arts for common people's welfare.
In this book, he not only described various types of pickled vegetables but also systematically presented instructions on different pickling methods.
With time passing by, Different regions of China have cultivated their unique methods passed down through generations, resulting in a wide range of pickle flavors.
In Northern China, it's common to pickle Chinese cabbage.
While in the southern areas, like Suzhou, local people often cut radishes into pieces, mix them with salt, and store them in jars.
Nowadays, with rising living standards and abundant market supplies, many households no longer pickle as many vegetables as they did in the past.
However, the tradition persists, especially after the Shau Shui Solar term.
Some people still take the opportunity to pickle a small jar of vegetables, preserving the essence of life and safeguarding a sense of nostalgia.
It serves as a reminder that amid the chill there are still moments of and satisfaction ...
to be discovered, one crunchy bite, at a time.
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That is the end of this edition of Special English.
To recap, I'm going to read one of the news items again at normal speed.
Please listen carefully.
Heilongjiang, the host province of the 9th Asian Winter Games, has unveiled its plan for this year's ice and snow season and announced a slew of preparations for better receiving international visitors.
The games are scheduled from February 7th to the 14th 2025 in Harbin, according to Yu Feng, Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.
An international tourism distribution centre has been set up in Harbin Central Street, offering travel consultation, speciality commodities displays, baggage storage and guidelines on key scenic spots.
The province has set up some 1 ,400 POS machines accepting foreign bank cards, 70 foreign currency exchange points and ATMs in hotels above the three -star level, and tourist attractions above the 4A level to ensure the convenience of payment for inbound tourists.
Meanwhile, key scenic spots in the The scenic areas have prepared multilingual signage and encouraged service staff to improve their foreign language skills.
Heilongjiang's winter tourism made headlines last season with Habin as a top destination boosting domestic spending and fueling local market growth.
In Habin, the famed Ice Snow World Theme Park will span a record 1 million square meters this winter.
Wang Hong -shin, Director of the Habin Department of Culture and Tourism, realism, revealed that in addition to the theme park, the city plans to build more than 500 Ice and Snow sports venues this winter, in locations including on the Songequah River, in the city's urban parks and open spaces and on campuses and playgrounds.
The venues will allow both the public and tourists to enjoy Ice and Snow sports, including skating, curling and ice hockey.
The 9th Asian Winter Games are expected to see record participation with over 1 ,500 athletes from 34 countries and regions registered so far.
Ha Long Jang has eyed this sports event as an important driver to further unleash its ice and snow economic potential.
That is the end of today's program.
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