Labour Day Endurance Cycling Challenge

On the 1st of May (Labour Day) the local Cube Shop at the Stadium organised a 24-hour distance challenge. They announced the event in the local bike community and provided a support car, rest stop, and prizes for all finishers.
Participants could choose between 300 km, 400 km and 500 km as the target to finish within 24 hours. The clock would always be ticking, so any stops or breaks would be counted into the total time. Represnting the Shaanxi Hills International Team, Marcus signed up for the 500 km goal, and Francis signed up for the 300 km goal.

Role Models:Zhuoran Li It’s our responsibility to become ourselves

When I was 3 years old, I liked a short-hair girl in my kindergarten. My feelings for girls got more intense when I was growing up. It was very confusing since everyone and everything around me told me I was supposed to like the opposite gender.
I used to wear women’s clothes when I was around 2-3 years old. As I got older I started to wear more and more masculine clothing. I think it was me unconsciously wanted to be a boy so that it would be ok for me to like girls. If I were a boy all my feelings towards girls would make sense and I wouldn’t be a freak anymore, trapped on my own isolated little island. I would be like everyone, be able to connect with the world. I could breathe freely and like girls as the way I wanted. I even considered transgender surgery for a long time, however the cost of transition proved to be prohibitively high.

蟹小姐 · Cajun Seafood

Finger-licking goodness just in time for summer
If you had any doubts despite the sunshine, 30+ degree weather, and rapid proliferation of outdoor seating, let us reassure you that summer is finally here. And what better way to welcome summer than with savory finger food and cold beverages?
We are of course talking about Cajun Seafood, a new spot that opened this April. Before we get into food, we must first address the important question: what is Cajun? It is a style of cuisine originating on the

YAN 煙

I s there anything in life better than a really good burger? Probably, but the experience of diving in to a tasty pile of meat, cheese, and bread is definitely up there. But, alas, in Xi’an it can be difficult to find a burger that really hits the spot, and often times you get a fried chicken sandwich instead of a burger when ordering a 汉堡. But, luckily we seem to be going through something of a burger revolution, as there are now numerous spots serving up burgers that are better than anything we’ve seen in recent years. One such place is a new restaurant that ranks among the best we’ve seen in a long time, Yan.
Located just inside of South Gate, close to the entrance of Shuyuan Men, Yan started serving food at the end of 2021, right before the most recent lockdown shut temporarily shut their doors for a month. However, they persisted and now are back to serving up some great food.

Moo Brewpub 牛啤精酿酒馆

We’ve reviewed many different bars at the magazine over the years, and in doing so, we’ve discovered a trend. Bars have been getting fancier over the years, and prices across the board have been rising, to the point where a single night out is going to cost you a pretty penny if you are going to remotely approach having a good time. While in many cases, this has led to improved quality and service, it can be a bit difficult to justify a regular trips where you return home with a significant dent in your pocket. The other side of the spectrum, where cheap drinks remain, are often serve drinks so bad that many cringe at the thought of them. What’s needed is a place that strikes a happy medium, somewhere where you can have a few drinks, have a good time, and not regret (most) of your decisions the next day. A place like Moo Brewpub.

A Bike Ride for Beginners Qinzhen Mipi

The weather is getting warmer, the trees are starting to turn the city green again, and the cherry blossoms will be blooming soon. After a long lockdown, there is no better time to get out of the city and smell the flowers. Or, better yet, eat some fresh noodles!.
But if you are like me and became “well-rounded” during lockdown (and I’m not talking about upskilling), ingesting a carb bomb might not be your first choice. However, physical activity will cancel out any carbs. As such, I recommend an easy beginner-level bike ride for those looking for something different.
Qinzhen offers the perfect escape from the city: about 25-30km (depending on your route) of flat, paved roads from the city center and mostly with bike lanes. At your destination awaits rice noodles. But don’t let this humble dish fool you – this is no ordinary fare even by Xi’an standards – these rice noodles have a history as long as the city of Xi’an itself!

Teaching Methods and Teaching Experiences from a Chinese Perspective

As a freelancer in English teaching and bilingual writing, I have come to love my freelancing life more and more. I am blessed to have lived my childhood in Rhode Island , USA and then returned to my mother country when I was just 12 years old. I was accepted into Clark University with a scholarship in August 2012 for one year. As we all know, education is part of a country’s soft powers, and it is the key to a country becoming a developed country. Education is very different between China and the USA, but through my 11 years of teaching English, I have found a number of very good teaching methods: so I would like to share my teaching methods and experiences with you.

The Truth About Silence: A Self-Portrait

When the life of quarantine and social distancing becomes an unnatural norm, we tend to find comfort in new or existing hobbies. Putting my headphones on with some soft coffee house piano music, my reprieve has always been in painting but rarely of my own face. If you are someone like me, to forcefully look at your own reflection can be unnerving. I noticed my own reflection had changed both inside and out. With cheeks filled out from lack of exercise, skin pale from the forgotten feeling of sunlight and eyes weary, it was actually internally – the lessons I had learnt and what I had grown into that concerned me the most.

Changing Jobs: Questions I asked myself

As a person who finished their postgraduate less than two years ago, I have changed jobs three times and each time I have entered a new field and familiarized myself with something totally strange to me. People around me have different opinions on it – some disapproving of my behavior, some praising me for my courage and some who were curious about my choices. I respect all different perspectives, and I’d like to share my experience and a few questions I have asked myself before changing. I hope what I write here can be helpful if you are stuck in a working dilemma.

FUN An Enzyme For Learning

my five years in China, I’ve worked in an international high school, a middle school, a couple training centers, and a kindergarten. Despite taking my work seriously, I often struggled to achieve the results I desired in the classroom. Most vividly, my first experience in a training center (in Shenzhen) began with me dreading work every day but ended in a difficult goodbye. I want to begin by sharing an anecdote about that experience and ultimately give some answers to the simple question that was incessantly burning my brain during that time: “How to make my teaching better?”.