People attend a "Wulong Xuhua" show to celebrate the Lantern Festival in Taijiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 23, 2024. The traditional "Wulong Xuhua" show is a kind of dragon dance performed amid fireworks by the Miao ethnic group. "Wulong" means the dragon dance, while "Xuhua" refers to a local specialty firework. Over 100 dragon dance teams gathered here to celebrate the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar, which falls on Feb. 24 this year. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin)
A performer attends a Shehuo parade in Longxian County of Baoji City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Feb. 24, 2024. The Shehuo parade, a time-honored performance enjoying widespread popularity in rural areas across China, originated from ancient sacrificial activities to pray for a good harvest about 2,000 years ago.
Later on, as dancing and singing performances were absorbed into the parade, it gradually evolved into a folk custom staged during the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, believed to remove bad luck and bring a fresh start in the new year.
The Shehuo folk performance in Baoji made it onto the list of China's national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.
Longxian County, referred to as Long Zhou in the old days, is well-known for the local Shehuo parade featuring authentic and inclusive performance and simple yet exquisite facial make-up. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)
This photo taken on Jan. 25, 2024 shows a portrait of Zhang Zhengtao. Led by his supervisor, Zhang Zhengtao, a graduate from the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASIA), joined the research of a large scientific device in 2010. Zhang was the first to apply artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm and precision optical imaging system to a device of its kind.
He has made a number of technological breakthroughs in automated optical inspection (AOI) technologies since then. In 2016, he spearheaded in the incorporation of CASI Vision, which applies AOI technologies to non-destructive automatic inspection of standardized industrial products.
To date, Zhang still serves as a researcher and doctoral supervisor at CASIA. As a scientist and an entrepreneur, he encourages his students to do practical research by focusing research funds at key issues, and addressing pain points with actual demand from the market. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)
A tourist enjoys an ice slide at an ice and snow art gallery of the Sun Island scenic spot in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Feb. 23, 2024. Covering an area of nearly 5,000 square meters, this indoor ice and snow art gallery wowed tourists with ice sculptures and various ice and snow entertainment. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)
Intelligent machines produce socks in a workshop of a sock company in Zhuji, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 24, 2024.
Production lines of sock companies in east China's Zhuji City, dubbed as "the sock capital," are operating at full swing to meet the orders.
As the world's largest sock manufacturing base, the Datang sub-district of Zhuji in Zhejiang Province produces approximately 25 billion pairs of socks yearly, accounting for more than 70 percent of the output of China and one-third of the whole world. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
People gather in front of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Feb. 24, 2024. The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 29,606, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Saturday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)
People watch performance celebrating the Lantern Festival in Zhuozi County of Ulanqab, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 23, 2024. People across the country celebrate the Lantern Festival amid a festive and bustling atmosphere. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)
People view a dragon lantern at Xicheng District in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 24, 2024. People across the country celebrate the Lantern Festival amid a festive and bustling atmosphere. (Xinhua/Li Xin)
People perform traditional dances during the annual Navam Perahera festival in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Feb. 23, 2024. (Photo by Gayan Sameera/Xinhua)
Gold medalists team China pose with the trophy during the awarding ceremony for the women's team at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals Busan 2024 in Busan, South Korea, Feb. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)
