A winter wonderland has opened to the public amid the stunning scenery of forests in Shangri-La, southwest China's Yunnan Province, offering locals and tourists a unique winter experience.
The venue lies in the Potatso National Park, a world heritage site renowned for its diverse ecosystem of lake wetlands, forest meadows, river valleys, streams, and rare flora and fauna.
Amidst breathtaking scenery, visitors were enjoying themselves by tubing, sledding and tobogganing down a snow-covered slope, making snowman, and taking photos for each others.
"As a southerner we don't get to see much snow where we live. This is my first time in Shangri-La, and these ice and snow activities are so much fun," said Shi Yunyan, a visitor from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
"We aim to introduce more visitors to our ice and snow culture and the joy of winter sports through diverse activities," said Feng Jianhua, general manager of Potatso Tourism Company.
In recent years, the park has diversified its tourism offerings, creating recreational activities such as camping, hiking, coffee, hotpot boiled with ice tube and Tibetan costume photography to cater to different interests.
Winter wonderland opens in Shangri-La's national park
Winter wonderland opens in Shangri-La's national park
More than a month ahead of the Chinese New Year, restaurants across China have reported a booming demand for reunion dinners, with popular places already fully reserved.
The family reunion dinners on the eve of the Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, is the most important meal of the year for Chinese people. It has long been an essential part of celebrating the Chinese New Year. This year, the festival falls on Feb 17.
In Taiyuan, capital city of north China's Shanxi Province, one restaurant said all tables for the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner have been reserved.
"We now have 36 private rooms and 13 tables in the hall. The New Year's Eve dinner is fully booked. Many families started reserving as early as November 2025," said Han Huiyan, a restaurant manager.
To meet the demand, many restaurants start to offer takeaway banquet package that can be easily prepared at home, allowing families to enjoy a variety of festive dishes without dining out.
In Ningbo, a city in east China's Zhejiang Province, many popular restaurants said that they are approaching full reservation levels. To reduce peak demand, some restaurants now offer off-peak reunion dinners starting later at night.
"We now offer a 'second round' of New Year's Eve dinners, which start at 19:30. We also offer discount for such New Year's Eve dinners, a promotion of 20 percent off set menus," said Sun Lijuan, a restaurant manager.
In Lianyungang, a city in east China's Jiangsu Province, smaller private rooms of a local restaurant have been nearly sold out, and customized menus and home-delivery services have drawn strong interest.
"This year we have specially launched the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner delivery service. Bookings are very strong and customers really like this option," said Geng Maoran, a restaurant general manager.
Restaurants see surge in bookings for Chinese New Year's Eve dinners
