Rather than indulge in smartphones and games, Zhang Yixuan prefers to spend his summer vacation walking in nature, encountering little creatures like shrimps and crabs. The 17-year-old went viral on Sina Weibo recently for his knowledge of biology, which led him to discover a new species of freshwater crabs of the genus (属) Sinolapotamon in 2022.

As his father, who was born in a rural area, loved catching fish and crabs himself at an early age, Zhang was always taken outdoors by his parents to explore as much as possible and observe little creatures quietly without any disruptions (打扰).

Now a grade 12 student at Yulin High School, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Zhang has dozens of “living treasures” that he has collected from the outdoors, including insects, fish, shrimps and crabs. “This one is a species of Nanhaipotamon that I caught in a mountainous area,” said Zhang, pointing to a vibrant (色彩鲜亮的) crab moving its amusing eyes around. “You can see it just shed (蜕去) its shell.”

There is also a row of empty bottles and jars in Zhang’s room to store his specimens (标本). “I can notice the slight differences between two shrimps, and then I take them back to my room for further observation,” said Zhang.

It is the microscope his father bought him that makes the bedroom look more like a mini biology lab than anything else. It’s a place where Zhang can devote himself to identifying shrimps or observing crabs day and night. With the help of his microscope, Zhang immerses himself in decoding (解码) the natural world. Sometimes he spends hours simply examining a piece of fish scale (鱼鳞), the leg of a crab or the antenna (触角) of an insect. He often works so late that his parents have to force him to go to bed.

“I’m often amazed by what I see while placing these tiny and fragile (脆弱的) things under the microscope. No matter how humble an insect is, each life is so delicately and uniquely structured,” said Zhang.

Fishing is my favourite sport. I often fish for hours without catching anything. But this does not worry me. Some fishermen are unlucky. Instead of catching fish, they catch old boots and rubbish. I am even less lucky. I never catch anything -- not even old boots. After having spent whole mornings on the river, I always go home with an empty bag. 'You must give up fishing!' my friends say. 'It's a waste of time.' But they don't realize one important thing. I'm not really interested in fishing. I am only interested in sitting in a boat and doing nothing at all!

A heart-stopping video shows that a group of hikers were able to keep their cool as a curious black bear approached them—and one even stayed composed enough to snap a selfie （自拍）.

The black bear pulls one of the women by the leg with its paws（爪子）,moving towards her across the path as she tries to remain completely still. When the frightening animal stands up on its legs to smell her, the fearless walker can be seen taking a photo with the wild animal as it breathes down her neck.

The incident is reported to have happened on a path in Chipinque Ecological Park, Mexico, and the clip （剪辑片段）has had millions of views since being shared on social media. With the bear particularly interested in one member of the group, another walker remains frozen with her back to the animal as she stares still into the trees.

A third can be seen nervously fearing as the bear begins to approach her and shakes her hand in fear, but it circles back around to check out the first hiker for a second time. It pushes her off balance with its head before twice pawing at her legs as onlookers shout to try and warn the bear off.

The woman remains fearless as the animal isn't into her and continues walking up the path, giving the group an opportunity to make a swift exit.

It was shared on Twitter by former basketball player Rex Chapman, getting 2.7 million views, with the caption: "Oh, my goodness. She's a rock."