【正文】 l ost si ght of Wang Pi ng when we reached what l ooked li ke a l arge m arket because of too m any carri ages fl yi ng by i n al l di rections. H e was swept up into the centre of them . Just at that m om ent I had a “tim e l ag” fl ashback and saw the area agai n as i t had ben i n the year AD 2020. I reali zed that I had been transported i nto the future of what was stil l my hom etown! Then I caught si ght of Wang Ping agai n and fl ew after hi m. Arri vi ng at a strangel ooki ng house, he showed m e i nto a l arge, bri ght cl ean room. It had a green wal , a brown fl oor and soft l i ghti ng. Suddenl y the wal m oved –i t was m ade of trees! I found l ater that thei r l eaves provi ded the room with m uchneeded oxygen. Then Wang Pi ng fl ashed a swi tch on a puter scren, and a tabl e and som e chai rs rose from under the floor as i f by m agi c. “Why not si t down and eat a li ttl e?” he sai d. “You m ay fi nd thi s diffi cul t as i t i s your fi rst ti me travel tri p. Just rel ax, si nce there is nothi ng pl anned on the tim etabl e today. Tom orrow you’l l be ready for som e vi si ts.” H avi ng sai d thi s, he spread som e food on the tabl e, and produced a bed from the fl oor. After he l eft, I had a bri ef m eal and a hot bath. Exhausted, I sl i d i nto bed and fel l fast asl eep. More news l ater from your l oving son, Li Qi ng I H AVE SEEN AMAZING TH INGS My fi rst visi t was to a space stati on consi dered the m ost m odern in space. Descri bed as an enorm ous round pl ate, i t spi ns sl owl y i n space to im itate the pul of the earth’s gravity. Insi de was an exhi bi ti on of the m ost uptodate i nventi ons of the 31st century. A gui de(G) showed us around al ong a moveabl e path. G: Good morni ng to al our vi si tors from 2020. First we’re going to exami ne one of the latest form s of m uni cati on among our space citi zens. No more typists working on a typewri ter or puter! N o more postage or postcodes! Messages can now be sent usi ng a “thoughtpad”. You pl ace the metal band over your head, clear your mi nd, press the sending buton, think your m essage and the next instant it ’s sent. It’s stored on the “thoughtpad” of the receiver. It’s quick, efi cient and environmental y friendly. The onl y l imi tati on is if the user does not thi nk hi s or her m essage cl earl y, an these ci ti es are not as l arge as those i n Chi na, they have worl dfam ous footbal teams and som e of them even have two! It i s a pi ty that the i ndustri al ci ti es buil t i n the nieenth century do not atract vi sitors. For hi stori cal archi tecture you have to go to ol der but smal er towns buil t by the Rom ans. There you wil fi nd out m ore about Bri ti sh hi story and cul ture. The greatest histori cal treasure of al i s London wi th its m useums, art col ecti ons, theatres, parks and buil di ngs. It is the centre of nati onal governm ent and i ts admi ni strati on. It has the ol dest port buil t by the Rom ans i n the fi rst century AD, the ol dest buil ding begun by the Angl oSaxons i n the 106os and the ol dest castl e constructed by l ater N orm an rul ers i n 1066. There have been four sets of invaders of Engl and. The fi rst i nvaders, the Romans, left their towns and roads. The second, the Angl oSaxon, l eft their l anguage and thei r governm ent. The thi rd, the Viki ngs, i nfl uenced the vocabul ary and pl acenames of the N orth of Engl and, and the fourth, the N orm ans, l eft castl es and introduced new words for food. If you l ok around the Bri ti sh countrysi de you wil l fi nd evi dence of al l these invaders. You m ust keep your eyes open i f you are goi ng to m ake your tri p to the Uni ted Kingdom enjoyabl e and worthwhi le. SIGH TSEEING IN LONDON Wori ed about the ti m e avail abl e, Zhang Pi ngyu had made a li st of the sites she wanted to see in London. H er fi rst del ight was goi ng to the Tower. It was bui lt l ong ago by the N orm an i nvaders of AD 1066. Fancy! Thi s sol i d stone, square tower had rem ai ned standi ng for one thousand years. Al though the bui l di ngs had expanded around it, i t rem ai ned part of a royal pal ace and pri son bi ned. To her great surpri se, Zhang Pi ngyu found the Queen’s jewel s guarded by speci al royal soldi ers who, on speci al ocasions, sti l wore the fourhundredyearol d uni form of the tim e of Queen Eli zabeth I. There fol l owed St Paul’s Cathedral buil t after the teri bl e fi re of London i n 1666. It l ooked splendi d when fi rst bui lt! Westmi nster Abbey, too, was very i nteresti ng. It contai ned statues i n m emory of dead poets and wri ters, such as Shakespeare. Then just as she cam e out of the abbey, Pi ngyu heard the fam ous sound of the cl ock, Bi g Ben, ri ngi ng out the hour. She fi nished the day by l ooki ng at the outsi de of Bucki ngham Pal ace, the Queen’s house i n London. O h, she had so m ush to tel l her fri ends! The second day the gi rl vi si ted Greenwich and saw its ol d shi ps and fam ous cl ock that sets the worl d ti m e. What i nterested her m ost was the l ongi tude li ne. It is an im agi nary l i ne divi di ng the eastern and western hal ves of the worl d and i s very useful for navi gati on. It passes through Greenwich, so Pi ngyu had a photo taken standi ng on either si de of the l ine. The l ast day she vi si ted karl Marx’s statue i n Hi ghgate Cem etery. It seem ed strange that the m an who had devel oped m uni sm shoul d have li ved and di ed i n London. N ot onl y that, but he had worked i n the fam ous readi ng room of the Li brary of the Bri ti sh Museum . Sadly the l i brary had m oved from i ts ori gi nal pl ace i nto another bui l di ng and the ol d readi ng room was gone. But she was thri l ed by so m any wonderful treasures from di fferent cul tures di spl ayed i n the m useum . When she saw m any vi sitors enjoyi ng l ooki ng at the beauti ful ol d