Erinome: Hello everyone! Welcome to today's daily news chat. I'm Erinome, and sitting next to me is Enceladus. Let's dive into the latest news together, shall we?
Enceladus: Sure! Let's start with the weather first, maybe? I heard there's some big snow and rain coming.
Erinome: Oh right! A large area of snow and rain is on the way. Places like Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu have already announced school closures. And the Yangtze River Delta Railway plans to temporarily stop some trains too.
Enceladus: Wow, that sounds serious. Kids might be happy about no school, but for people traveling, it could be tough, you know?
Erinome: Totally. Next, let's talk about Spring Festival travel. China Railway Group said the 2026 Spring Festival travel period will start on February 2nd and end on March 13th. And tickets for the first day go on sale this 19th!
Enceladus: Oh, Spring Festival is not far then! So many people will be going home. I hope everyone can get tickets easily.
Erinome: Me too! And good news for train travelers: Railway 12306 has a new service. Starting January 19th, if you buy the wrong train ticket, you can get a free online refund within 30 minutes after paying—*and* only if it's more than 4 hours before the train leaves.
Enceladus: That's great! No more losing money for small mistakes, haha. I've heard so many people complain about wrong tickets before.
Erinome: Right! Now, here's a fun one: a company in Zhejiang is giving a 35-day Spring Festival holiday! And employees who leave and come back on time get a 5,000 yuan prize. The boss said they've done this for over 10 years.
Enceladus: 35 days? Wow, that's a super long holiday! I wish my company did that, haha. That must make employees really happy.
Erinome: For sure! Moving on to Hainan: the first month after Hainan Free Trade Port closed its customs, duty-free sales reached 4.86 billion yuan. 745,000 people shopped there, buying 3.494 million items.
Enceladus: That's a huge number! Hainan's duty-free shopping is really popular, right? So many people go there to buy things.
Erinome: Yep! Now some good news from space: China's "Chuanyuezhe-1" (穿越者壹号) manned spaceship test module successfully did a landing buffer test. It's the first time for China's commercial space industry!
Enceladus: Wow, that's cool! China's space technology is getting better and better. So proud!
Erinome: Definitely. But now some sad news: famous nuclear physicist Wei Baowen passed away at 91. And Hong Kong martial arts star Liang Xiaolong also died at 77. Now only two of the "Hong Kong Four Dragons" are left.
Enceladus: Oh no, that's really sad. They both did so much in their fields. Rest in peace.
Erinome: Yeah. Next, an accident in Inner Mongolia: a板材 (ban cai) factory exploded. 2 people died, 2 are missing, and 78 were sent to the hospital. The cause is still being investigated.
Enceladus: Oh no, that's terrible. Hope the missing people are found safe, and the injured get better soon.
Erinome: Me too. On a better note, a mountain fire in Nujiang, Yunnan lasted two days, but over 300 people worked to put it out. Officials said the fire is now under control, and no one was hurt.
Enceladus: Thank goodness no one got hurt! Firefighters are so brave, working so hard in dangerous situations.
Erinome: Absolutely. Now, a strange scam story: a man in Chenzhou, Hunan believed someone who said they could invest in buying tanks from Russia for "preparing for war". He was cheated out of 420,000 yuan!
Enceladus: Wow, that's crazy! How could he believe that? Scams are so tricky. People need to be more careful.
Erinome: For sure. Last news: Singapore is cracking down hard on e-cigarettes. Suppliers could get up to 20 years in prison and 15 lashes. Even foreigners will get the same punishment.
Enceladus: Whoa, that's really strict! They must want to stop e-cigarettes completely.
Erinome: Okay, that's all the news for today. Stay safe, everyone, especially with the snow and rain coming. Let's talk again next time!
Enceladus: Bye for now!
