Photos and scripts are based on nationalgeographic.com; Chinese translation is provided by raindrops®
April 21, 2007
Ilan, Taiwan, 1993
台湾宜兰
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
A stretch of open road in Taiwan lies empty due to heavy rains that canceled that year’s Dragon Boat Festival. This festival, held in the small northeast village of Ilan, features dragon boat races, firecrackers, and throngs of cheering spectators. Even as it forges forward with booming industries and soaring skyscrapers, Taiwan struggles to preserve fleeting tokens of its ancient heritage.
The Porcupine caribou herd grazes near Beaufort Lagoon in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Every spring, this 165,000-member herd, named for the Porcupine River which runs through its winter grounds, migrates 400 miles (644 kilometers) over the Brooks Range to calving grounds on the coastal plain.
Framed by overgrowth, a fractured mirror clinging to an abandoned car reflects the Arizona countryside along historic Route 66. Now mostly abandoned, Route 66 was the primary route between Chicago and Los Angeles in the mid-twentieth century, a route especially popular with Dust Bowl migrants.
Chimney sweeps rest against a house in Sebrov, Czechoslovakia, while maintenance workers take their 10:00 a.m. beer break. The chimney sweepers work for the State Ministry of Public Services and must clean 15 chimneys each hour.
People frolic in the shining waters of the Rio de la Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Rio de la Plata is an estuary of the Paran?and Uruguay Rivers that forms the border between Argentina and Uruguay.
在位于 Buenos Aires 的Rio de la 河,人们在波光粼粼的河水里嬉戏。Rio de la 河是Paran 河和 Uruguay河的交汇处,是阿根廷和乌拉圭的边界。
April 26, 2007
London, England, 1985
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
A merchant displays wares for sale—including old paintings, a guitar, a mirror, and appliances—at London’s Camden Lock Market. The Market operates from a former timber wharf near Regent’s Canal, where entrepreneurs and artists have been selling books, crafts, jewelry, and food since 1973.
Camels cast shadows across the Qala-e-Bost arch in southern Afghanistan抯 Helmand province. The 11th century arch, which appears on the 100 Afghani note, marks the principal approach to the ancient fortress citadel of Bost, later renamed Lashkar Gah.
Over the centuries, the city bore multiple assaults by the Ghorids, Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane. Today it is the capital of the Helmand province.
历经数个世纪的洗礼,这座城市曾数次受到Ghorids, Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane的攻击。现在是Helmand省的首府。
April 28, 2007
Queensland, Australia, 1996
澳大利亚 昆士兰
Photograph by Sam Abell
Despite the region's inhospitable climate—five months of torrential rains followed by seven months of drought, plus infertile soil and frequent lightning-sparked bush blazes—Cape York Peninsula is home to 379 rare or endangered plant species. The region is one of Australia's most complex ecosystems, with rain forest, grassland, wetland, and scrub coexisting in close quarters.
The spectacular landscape of Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve is the result of a 1980 congressional act that set the 13.2 million acres (5.3 million hectares) of land aside to remain undisturbed. One of the United States' biggest national parks, Wrangell-Saint Elias is home to grizzly bears, wolves, caribou, moose, mountain goats, and Dall sheep.
A bearded seal relaxes near the edge of an ice floe in the Arctic Ocean near Norway抯 Svalbard Archipelago. These seals, which are rarely found in groups, spend most of their time in the water. Even at one week old, bearded seal pups can dive for five full minutes to depths of 250 feet (76 meters).