In today’s fast-paced world, research shows that more and more people are feeling “time poor”.

Time poverty can happen when work, social duties, and family responsibilities take up too much of a person’s time, leaving little or no time for fun or personal interests. It can also happen when one feels like they are running out of time to reach their goals or complete tasks. The Internet, mobile technology, and social media have allowed people to experience and do many jobs in a single lifetime. The fear of missing out and the stress caused by it increase the feeling of time poverty. Besides, we often say “yes” to any extra work. It could be to help your team or your friends. But by saying ”yes” to everything, you are adding another task to an already full plate.

People who don’t have enough time fail to perform properly at work and remain stressed. Continuous stress can harm mental health. Moreover, less quality (优质的) time with friends and family can make a person feel more lonely.

So how can we stop being time poor? There are two ways.

Firstly, be intentional with your time. It may seem harmless to check your phone for 5 to 10 minutes every hour, but this can add up to more than 90 minutes wasted every day just checking your phone. So, every minute counts, and the time wasted every day can add up quickly if you don’t realize it. In order to be more intentional with your time, you can consider planning out your day’s priorities (优先考虑的事) the night before or the morning of. Try to find out what things in your life are distracting you, and try to stay away from those distractions to stop wasting valuable time.

Secondly, make quality time a true value in your life. How you spend your time with someone or doing something is more important than the quantity (数量) of time you spend on something. Train yourself to be more present in your life instead of allowing one area of your life to influence another. For example, when you are spending time with your family, be present and in the moment rather than focusing your thoughts and attention elsewhere.

We are all given the same 24 hours each day. By being more intentional with your time and valuing quality time, you’ll learn ways to make better use of it. Then you can improve your overall well-being and spend more time on what matters most in your life.

As is known to all of us, Beijing Opera is one of the most important opera styles in China. It is an art on the stage which has about 200 years’ history. It is not only a treasure of the Chinese nation but also a cultural symbol of China. Similar to western operas, Beijing Opera is a combination of singing, dancing, martial arts, music and literature, so it is also called the “Oriental (东方的) Opera” by western people.

Beijing Opera uses special imagery in creating the characters. All roles are divided according to sex, personality, age and profession and social status. Hangdang is the general term for role in Beijing Opera. There are four types of roles in Beijing Opera today. They are sheng, dan, jing and chou. The sheng is the male protagonist (主角), the dan the female protagonist, the jing (painted face) a male supporting role with a different characteristics, and chou (clown) a comic or negative figure. Each kind of role has their own face-painting and dressing to indicate their identities.

The Opera’s performance requires not only the gentle voice but also the proficiency (熟练) of martial actions. A successful opera actor must suffer from the tough practicing period. In the old time, the children of poor families were sent to the opera group in order to earn a living. While now, the real opera artists are well respected by opera lovers.

Mei Lanfang, one of the most remarkable performing artists in Beijing Opera, was born in Beijing into a poor family. His life was bitter and he had no opportunity to go to school, so he went to the troupe (戏班子) when he was 8 years old to learn Beijing Opera. Mr. Mei was on the stage when he was 11 years old to perform the plays of Beijing Opera. He has been an opera actor for more than 50 years, performing hundreds of traditional plays and over 30 modern plays. He portrayed many bright and lifelike female figures on the stage and became the model in Chinese Beijing Opera and even within the entire artistic circle.