Shanghai zoos are ramping up efforts to protect animals from a sweltering heatwave, employing mist sprays, icy treats, and tailored diets to shield them against the soaring temperatures.
At Shanghai Zoo's flamingo exhibit, mist sprays offered a refreshing coolness as flamingos stretched their long legs, strolling gracefully for visitors.
Meanwhile, a herd of elephants at the zoo cooled off with playful splashes in the pond, some delighting visitors by spraying water from their trunks.
Additionally, red pandas clung to chunks of ice for relief, while giant pandas relaxed indoors, savoring food in the cool breeze of air conditioners and fans.
Shanghai Zoo staff also trimmed the animals' fur, and updated the animals' summer diets, adding more fresh and juicy fruits and vegetables to the food of primates and herbivores.
In Shanghai's Haichang Ocean Park, breeders are feeding dolphins with ice blocks, the zoo also uses a thermostatic control system to regulate the pool temperature and provide frozen fruit to marine animals.
Shanghai zoos step up cooling measures to protect animals from sweltering heatwave
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
