Bicycles have long been a kind of transport in China. In the past, only a small group of people thought cycling a sport. Now more and more people discover the joy of it.

____ Riders share their favourite routes and health tips about cycling on some apps like Xiaohongshu or Sina Weibo. On Xiaohongshu, there are more than 2.5 million posts (帖子) about cycling, and on Weibo, the topic about cycling has been viewed more than 700 million times. A bicycle company says the sales in one of its stores rose 20% to 30%, compared to the same period a year earlier. Cycling activities are also welcomed. According to the Chinese Cycling Association, at least 20 million people have joined in the sport.

People turn to cycling as more people care about their health and their demand for outdoor exercise becomes stronger. For people who have begun cycling, the sport seems to provide a good way to run away from the busy city life. It also gives them a stronger sense of being part of the natural environment. Though the sport cycling sometimes costs a lot, many cyclists think spending money on their own bodies is more valuable than on other items. More people take part in cycling as cities in China are also planning to build more cycle-only lanes (车道). Several years ago, Beijing started building the city's first cycle-only lane. Since its opening, the lane has seen a larger daily traffic flow. Such lanes are also being built in some other cities.

Technology and sustainability(可持续性) are two driving forces in the world today. For the agriculture department, sustainable agriculture technology must be the new trend, and farmers should follow it.

The following sustainable agriculture technologies are necessary.

Smart irrigation

Crops need water—that's needless to say. However, how they get water is another story.

With smart irrigation technology, water can be put to good use. New irrigation systems with smart technology can report soil moisture(湿度) and temperature in real time. These new technologies help farmers properly take care of crops in a more efficient way. For example, most crops have specific requirements for temperature and moisture. The new irrigation systems can show farmers whether they need to make changes for their crops' growing environments. In this way, they may help reduce the waste of water.

Drones

Drones' abilities get them a place on this list. They can do a lot and most importantly, they can make the boring and tiring farm work much easier.

These devices have high-definition cameras that take pictures and videos. Through wireless control, just at home farmers can fly the drones over the fields and check on crops. If one area of crops isn't doing well, farmers can quickly record the details and then spray chemicals with the help of the drones.

Data and software

Data is rich in this tech-driven world. Farming and data working together can greatly change the way farmers plant, harvest and water.

As computers gather information, they report it all back to a central system. So when farmers learn in which area crop health needs to improve, they can use water and fertilizer(肥料) more efficiently, causing less waste.

The three technologies are helpful for farmers to save costs, labor and energy. And they can contribute to the final goal of agricultural sustainability—that is to improve the environment. As these new technologies continue to develop, we are sure to have a cleaner environment.

Sustainable agricultural technology is the future—and it will change the game.

Ten years ago, many people thought that the age of physical books was coming to an end. The objects that had been the companions (伙伴) of millions of readers for hundreds of years were about to disappear. Soon, we'd all be reading on little electronic screens and laughing at the memory of places called "libraries" and "bookshops".

But it seems not true about the idea of the death of the physical books. At least in the UK, as The Guardian noted, sales of e-books are falling while sales of physical books are rising. More surprisingly, it's young people who are buying the most physical books. More than 60 percent of 16-to-24-year-olds preferred print books to e-books. The most popular reason given was:"I like to hold the product."

Books become very personal objects to lovers of reading. It often starts with the way they get them. Many buyers of books like to write down their names on the inside cover when they've bought one. And we carry books around with us everywhere.

If there's a mark made on the pages from coffee or food, it doesn't matter. These accidents make the book—our book—even more personal. It's as if readers of physical books make friends with them.

Of course, some could say that the devices(设备) on which people read e-books, like Kindles and iPads are also objects that we like. But it isn't quite the same. A Kindle can hold as many pieces of writing as a whole library. But a story we remember from our time turning its pages in our favourite armchair enters our memory forever.

Physical books are as valuable to some readers as photographs of family members. 

This "friendship" people develop with books isn't just about feelings. Research has shown that readers remember more information read from physical books than electronic ones.

However, there's no doubt e-books are here to stay. They aren't simply a "here today, gone tomorrow" thing. But it's also certain that physical books, which have been in production since the fifteenth century, are here to stay, too.