Hello everybody, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Nancy Sun…

And I'm Trevor Tortomasi.

In today's news:

Opening a new center for art, closing the gates of hell, and breaking records for comic books.

All that and more, coming up next.

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臺北表演藝術中心 3月試營運

Taipei Performing Arts Center to Open for Trial Run

Soon, there will be a new place to see amazing shows in Taipei.

The Taipei Performing Arts Center is opening for a trial run in March.

臺北表演藝術中心將在3月開始一段試營運時期。

During this time, the center will have 58 shows from 15 different performance groups.

The center is in Shilin District.

It is 59,000 square meters large, and cost $6.75 billion NT to build.

The center looks very different from other buildings.

In fact, it looks like a building from the future.

It has many parts that have different shapes (形狀).

One part is the Globe Playhouse.

It's a sphere (圓形、球狀).

800 people can sit inside.

There's also the Grand Theater that has 1,500 seats.

And the Blue Box theater has 800 seats.

Taipei officials say all the theaters can be used for different shows.

And they can also be used together for very big shows.

Officials say the trial run will last from March to May.

And they will use this time to test the 3 theaters, to make sure everything works well.

During this time, there will be many different types of shows there.

People can see dance, musicals, children's shows, puppet shows, and many other types of performances.

試營運時期的表演，包括現代舞、音樂劇、兒童劇、偶戲等不同類型。

The city government says the center will fully open (正式開幕) in July.

It hopes the center can give all artists and performers a chance to grow.

And officials say people who come to see the shows can also enjoy Shilin Night Market, which is close by.

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燃燒半世紀 土庫曼"地獄之門"將關閉

Turkmenistan to Put Out "Gates of Hell"

The "Gates of Hell" doesn't sound like a place we'd want to visit.

But the "Gates of Hell" in Turkmenistan is actually a tourist hotspot.

The site is officially called the "Darvaza Crater ".

It's a big hole in the ground.

The hole is 69 meters wide.

That's almost as wide as National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei.

The hole was made in the early 1970s.

People were digging in the ground for natural gas (天然氣).

But the hole they made collapsed (塌陷)。

The government was worried that the natural gas coming out would make people sick.

So they lit the giant hole on fire to burn away the gas.

And it has been burning since then.

That's a giant hole… on fire… for around 50 years!

土庫曼知名景點「地獄之門」是一座天然氣坑，在沙漠中燃燒50年。

Many people visit to see the "Gates of Hell".

But Turkmenistan's government now wants to put out the fire.

Officials say the fire is bad for the health of people living close by.

And burning all that natural gas is a waste.

They believe the natural gas can be saved and used for other things.

And a big fire burning for so long is also bad for the environment.

The government says it will talk with scientists and experts to see if the fire can be put out safely.

政府希望可以找出撲滅「地獄之門」大火的方法，因為燃燒天然氣對人民與環境都有害，也會使國家重要天然資源流失。

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蜘蛛人單頁漫畫9250萬天價成交

Page of Spider-Man Comic Sells for $3 Million USD

How much money would you pay for a piece of paper?

Well, someone paid $3 million U.S. dollars!

That's because it's a very important part of Spider-Man history.

The piece of paper is a page from a Spider-Man comic book.

The page shows Spider-Man putting on his all-black Spider-Man suit.

畫中的蜘蛛人第一次穿著黑色戰服亮相。

Spider-Man's suit is blue and red.

But one time, in his story, he put on a special black suit that made him different.

Eventually, Spider-Man went back to his red and blue suit.

But that page, showing Spider-Man in the black suit for the very first time is now very valuable.

The page was sold at auction earlier this month.

It sold for $3.36 million U.S. dollars.

That makes it the most expensive page from a comic book ever sold at auction.

最近拍賣只有一頁的蜘蛛人漫畫，以一頁336萬美金，大約9250萬台幣，天價賣出。

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So, in today's News Bites:

The Taipei Performing Arts Center is opening for a trial run in March.

During this time, the center will have 58 shows from 15 different performance groups.

This will help make sure everything works well.

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The government of Turkmenistan wants to put out the natural gas fire burning in the Darvaza Crater, also called the "Gates of Hell".

Officials say the fire is bad for the health of people living close by.

And they believe the natural gas can be saved and used for other things.

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And,

A page from a Spider-Man comic book has sold for $3.36 million U.S. dollars.

It shows Spider-Man putting on his all-black Spider-Man suit for the first time.

That makes it the most expensive page from a comic book ever sold at auction.

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And that's today's episode of News Bites!