Last week I went to Corsica with my friends on vacation. It was my first visit to the island! We took the ship from Toulon, France, to the city Ajaccio. Although Toulon and Ajaccio seemed quite close, it took us eight hours. We chatted and played card games to kill time.

When we got there, I got a surprise because of the weather. It was already October! But we just needed to wear T-shirts and shorts. We went to the beach to enjoy the sunshine and some of my friends even went swimming in the sea. The Corsican scenery (风景) was so beautiful. We had a picnic, went for a long walk along the coast and took lots of pictures.

Ajaccio is famous for being Nepoleon’s birthplace, so we also went to the Maison Bonaparte. It was the home of the Bonaparte family. In fact, it was a museum when we visited it.

One day we took the local train to another beautiful city named Corte. We visited the citadel (城堡) and the museum where we learnt more about Corsican history and enjoyed the beautiful views of the city.

The food in Corsica was fantastic and we often visited the market to taste something delicious. We also went to some local restaurants for dinner and ate fresh seafood. At the end of the trip, we were very sad to leave and I hope to return to Corsica again some day.

Although it is small, Macao is a city that keeps attracting visitors to return again and again. Why? We will help you discover the city’s beauty.

If you come to Macao, you mustn’t miss an experience of the morning tea. People enjoy tea and dim sum (点心), or small plates of local snacks, in a slow manner. One of the earliest tea houses in Macao is an internet-famous site with its old-fashioned fans, windows, and Chinese watercolor works. It reminds you about 50-years-old Hong Kong movies easily.

After a taste of local delicious food, our next stop is Kwan Dai Temple—a temple that carries special meaning in this city’s history. Centuries ago, businessmen in Macao would gather in temples to exchange information on business chances, but as people become more and more, businessmen didn’t have enough spaces. Then, more than two centuries ago, Kwan Dai temple was built with the effort of several businessmen. Today’s Kwan Dai Temple is where activities such as the lion dance and dragon march are held on traditional holidays.

Our next place is Macao’s landmark. More than four centuries ago, St. Paul’s College, the first Western-style university was built in Macao. Then in 1835, a great fire destroyed most buildings of the college. The front of the college’s church and part of the stone steps in front of it is undamaged. The remains, now known as the Ruins of St. Paul’s, has become a symbol of Macao and a tourist site not to be missed by any visitor to the city.

Cities are often noisy and dirty, and many people prefer the peaceful countryside, with open fields and trees. 【小题1】 In cities, there are jobs, exciting things to do and plenty of new people to meet. Some architects（建筑师）are now trying to bring the countryside into the city by creating “green skyscrapers（摩天大楼）”.

The Bosco Verticale in Milan, Italy, is a skyscraper which tries to create a “forest in the sky”. 【小题2】 One is over 110 meters high and the other is around 80 meters high. Inside, it is mainly apartments, but there’re also some offices. The special thing about this skyscraper is that there are hundreds of trees and smaller plants, growing all over it.

【小题3】 There are problems with planting trees so high up — not all kinds of trees can live in the strong winds at this height. Also, someone has to look after the plants, water them and cut them from time to time. This could be a lot of work.

But green skyscrapers also bring a lot of benefits（益处）. The trees and plants clean the air, keep the apartments cool in hot weather and reduce（减少）the noise that people hear inside the building. 【小题4】 Some architects believe that over the next 20 years green buildings could change the looks of our cities.

Recently, I visited Singapore, and stayed in the Parkroyal on Pickering hotel. This hotel is a great example of a green skyscraper. The building is covered in plants, and there is a “sky garden”. 【小题5】 There are plants everywhere, and I was amazed that there are even indoor waterfalls! Rooms aren’t cheap, but the price is worth paying to get the chance to get away from the noise and dirt outside and enjoy a little bit of the countryside in the heart of the city.