分类必应美图下的文章

从上魏斯巴赫山地列车的车站向外看，德国图林根 View from railroad station of mountain train in Oberweissbacher, Thuringia, Germany (© golero/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Cable car station of the Oberweissbacher Bergbahn

Today you can look at snow-covered tracks and remote forests from a station of the Oberweissbacher Bergbahn. If you want to experience the picturesque winter landscape of the Thuringian Slate Mountains from this unique perspective, you don't have to reach deep into your pocket: a day ticket for the historic funicular, which is open every half-hour over a nearly 4 Mile-long route, currently costs just 14 euros.

The track consists of a wide-gauge cable car and an adjoining standard-gauge and electrified adhesion section. Both parts of the route are closely linked operationally and have been listed as a monument to the history of production and traffic since 1982. The mountain railway has been part of Deutsche Bahn AG since 1994 - at the moment it is the only German cable car that is not owned by the community or privately.

汽车穿过贝加尔湖冰面的鸟瞰图，俄罗斯 Aerial view of car crossing over the frozen surface of Lake Baikal, Russia (© Amazing Aerial Agency/Offset)

The Pearl of Siberia

Lake Baikal is a record-holding wonder: It's the world's oldest (25 million years), deepest (over 5,000 feet in some parts), and largest freshwater lake (more than 20 percent of the Earth's fresh surface water by volume). Baikal lies in the deepest continental rift on Earth, and because the rift is geologically active, the tectonic plates continue to move farther apart.

Fairweather tourists visit the 'Pearl of Siberia' in warmer months, but the brave and hearty show up in January when the lake surface freezes over. The ice makes an excellent playground for winter athletes competing in everything from skating marathons to the Baikal Ice Golf Tournament. And when the frozen expanse is at its thickest, an ice road opens between the mainland and Olkhon Island, pictured here, allowing people to drive across another superlative: turquoise ice so clear it's transparent to depths of 100 feet.

Semuc Champey自然公园，危地马拉 Semuc Champey nature park in Guatemala (© Joel Sharpe/Getty Images)

Staircase of turquoise pools

While it's snowy and cold in much of the Northern Hemisphere this time of year, December and January are popular months to visit Guatemala, where the skies are clear, but everything is still green and lush from autumn rains. Nestled in the Guatemalan jungle, Semuc Champey is a hotspot for adventurous tourists. Its name means 'where the river hides under the stones' in Qʼeqchi', a Mayan language spoken by local communities.

Our image showcases the 980-foot natural limestone bridge that crosses over the Cahabón River. Atop the bridge lies a series of stepped turquoise pools—it's a paradise of swimming holes for those intrepid enough to reach this remote locale. Truth be told, word has gotten out that Central Guatemala is an up-and-coming tourist destination, with its stunning natural areas, Mayan ruins, and highland regions. Maybe it's time to plan a trip.

阳光照耀下的火山岩山脊，冰岛埃亚菲亚德拉冰盖 (© Erlend Haarberg/Minden Pictures)

野外探险家亚历克斯·彼得森在胡德山南侧快速滑翔，俄勒冈 Backcountry adventurer Alex Peterson speed riding on the south side of Mount Hood, Oregon (© Richard Hallman/DEEPOL by plainpicture)

Ready, Set, Snow

Far above the clouds, an adrenaline-seeking skier glides past the jagged Crater Rock on Oregon's Mount Hood. He's practicing a relatively young sport known as speed riding—similar to paragliding but with more emphasis on high velocity than altitude. Skiers with parachute-like 'wings' launch downslope at high speed, navigating runs partly on skis and partly in the air.

As Oregon's loftiest peak and with a year-round ski season, Mount Hood has long been a destination for pioneering winter sports enthusiasts, so a view of its snowy slopes seemed appropriate for World Snow Day. This annual celebration was initiated by the International Ski Federation in 2012 to promote sledding, skiing, snowboarding, and other frigidly fun athletics. Organizers also emphasize the health benefits and connection to nature that snow sports provide. With hundreds of wintry events slated worldwide, it's touted as 'the biggest day on snow all year.'

白沙国家公园中的石膏沙丘，新墨西哥 Gypsum sand dunes, White Sands National Park, New Mexico (© Grant Kaye/Cavan Images)

Sands of time

At a quick glance, you might mistake these dunes for massive snowdrifts. Although they do make for great sledding, the tiny crystals that make up White Sands National Park are not ice but gypsum, a soft mineral often used to make plaster and chalk. The dune field became a national monument on this day in 1933 with a proclamation by President Herbert Hoover, which set aside nearly 150,000 acres for preservation. Recently, on December 20, 2019, President Trump signed legislation making it the 62nd designated national park in the National Park System.

The pearly sands compose the largest gypsum dune field in the world but cover just a fraction of southern New Mexico's Tularosa Basin. This vast desert valley—more extensive than some US states at 6,500 square miles—is mostly occupied by White Sands Missile Range. The active military installation—the US's largest by area—surrounds the national park and includes the Trinity site, where the first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945. That event altered the course of humanity's future, but the White Sands region is also defined by echoes from our very distant past: recently, scientists have used radar technology to zero in on prehistoric human, mammoth, and giant sloth footprints buried long ago beneath the shifting sands.

一只勃兰特鸬鹚在洛杉矶海岸石油钻塔下的一群太平洋鲭鱼中觅食，加利福尼亚 A Brandt's cormorant hunts for a meal in a school of Pacific mackerel beneath an oil rig off the coast of Los Angeles, California (© Alex Mustard/Minden Pictures)

A seabird gets 'schooled'

This deep-diving Brandt's cormorant appears to be on the hunt for a meal, and there's plenty of Pacific mackerel to choose from here off the coast of Los Angeles, California. While seabirds like the cormorant are a threat to these fish, the mackerel aren't exactly defenseless. Fish have many unique means of defense, such as traveling in dense schools like this one. It's a technique that not only allows for speedy travel (because it reduces friction on most of the fish in the school)—schooling also makes it more difficult for predators to pick out an individual victim. For these fish, there's safety in numbers. But when all else fails, they can take some advice from Dory in 'Finding Nemo'—'Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.'

In the valley of the doll

Today we're featuring a picture-postcard view of Val Gardena, a valley nestled in Dolomites in the South Tyrol region of Italy. This time of year, the remote area may be a bit busier than usual as skiers are drawn to its famous slopes. In summer, it's known for other outdoor activities, such as rock climbing and hiking. Since the 17th century, the villagers have been famed for their woodcarving. Artisans create everything from simple, utilitarian items, like wood bowls, to finely detailed figurines. One of the woodcarvers' biggest hits? A wooden peg doll that was popular across Europe and the US during the 19th century.

Harvest season begins

Today we're in Kathmandu, Nepal, where the Boudhanath stupa stands out against the skyline. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the stupa is on the ancient trade route from Tibet—traders have rested and offered prayers here for centuries. Like all stupas, Boudhanath is a mound-like structure containing relics. It was first built sometime after the 600s, when Buddhism was first spreading through Tibet and Nepal. It's long been a major pilgrimage site for Buddhists, and is said to entomb the remains of Kassapa Buddha, one of the 29 named ancient Buddhas.

Today, many locals in Kathmandu and across Nepal are celebrating Maghe Sankranti, the harvest festival that marks the beginning of the month of Magh and the start of warmer weather. It's similar to the winter solstice celebrated by other cultures. Typically, people observe the holiday at home with their families. But this holiday is also when many Hindus worship the sun god by taking ritual baths in nearby rivers and eating special festive foods like yams and sweet dough balls called 'laddus.'

Mount Fuji Sunrise for new year

Mount Fuji is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains". It is the highest volcano in Japan, the 2nd-highest volcano of an island in Asia, and the 7th-highest peak of an island in the world. It is an active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707-1708. Mt.Fuji is also a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and one of Japan's Historic Sites.

By the way, the sunrise on New Year's Day is called "first sunrise" or "coming light", but these two are slightly different. "First sunrise" was the subject of religion, based on the legend that the new god descends with the first sunrise. "Gokumitsu" is originally a Buddhist term. It refers to worshiping the sunrise at the top of a high mountain and is actually a summer term.

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