A rare atmospheric optical phenomenon called a parhelion appeared in the sky over Genhe City of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Monday with two sun dogs flanking the sun.
Sun dogs are bright, rainbow-like patches of light that appear on either side of the sun when it is low on the horizon. They are formed by sunlight bending through ice crystals in the sky, creating a colorful display.
The mock suns are a member of the family of halos which are white and colored rings in the sky and often appear on the parhelic circle, forming a perfect central symmetry with the real sun as the axis.
Genhe City is located near a latitude of 55 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. Its winter is extremely cold, often accompanied by natural wonders such as ice fog, cold auroras, and sun dogs, making it an excellent place to observe various atmospheric optical phenomena.
Rarely seen sun dogs phenomenon appears in sky over Inner Mongolia
Rarely seen sun dogs phenomenon appears in sky over Inner Mongolia
China's crude oil production is expected to reach a historic high of 215 million tons in 2025, according to the latest data released by the National Energy Administration on Tuesday.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China has added a total of 105 million tons of new crude oil capacity, with offshore oil emerging as a key growth driver, accounting for over 60 percent of the country's new oil output for five consecutive years, according to the data.
Meanwhile, China has maintained nine years of consecutive growth in natural gas, with production continuing to expand by hundreds of millions of cubic meters annually. The country remains the world's fourth-largest natural gas producer, with a sustained position of strength, the National Energy Administration said.
By the end of 2025, China's natural gas output is projected to reach 260 billion cubic meters, representing a 35 percent increase from the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), according to the data.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China also saw the addition of 10 super-large oil fields, each with reserves exceeding 100 million tons, and 19 giant gas fields with proven reserves over 100 billion cubic meters. Total proven geological reserves in the country have increased by approximately 43 percent for oil and 40 percent for natural gas compared to the previous Five-Year Plan period, with additional proven reserves of 7 billion tons of oil and over 7 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.
By far, China's oil and gas pipeline network has expanded to 195,000 kilometers, accelerating the formation of a national pipeline network.
"During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's investment and workload in oil and gas exploration and development have remained at historically high levels. A continuous emergence of scientific and technological innovation achievements has led the oil and gas industry into a new stage of both increased volume and efficiency as well as green development. A modern oil and gas production, supply, storage and sales system that is safer, more efficient, open and resilient has been established, providing a solid guarantee for national energy security and the steady development of the economy and society," said Hu Jianwu, deputy director of the Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas under the National Energy Administration.
China to set new records in crude oil production in 2025: data
