This photo shows the main hall of the Qingcheng Palace complex in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 21, 2024. The Qingcheng Palace complex, a royal sacrificial venue along the historic central axis of Beijing, opened to the public after restoration work on Saturday.
Built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the palace is located inside the Altar of the God of Agriculture, also referred to as the Xiannongtan Temple. The palace was formerly known as Zhaigong, which literally translates to the fasting palace. It was a place where the emperors abstained from heavy meals and meditated before worship.
It was renamed as Qingcheng Palace in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), becoming a place where the emperors held celebratory rituals after cultivation ceremonies while praying for a good harvest.
Restoration work of the ancient buildings started in June last year, following the principle of "minimal intervention." (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)
People visit a lantern fair held at China Flower Expo Park in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Dec. 20, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
Test-takers enter an examination site for the 2025 postgraduate entrance exam in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Dec. 21, 2024.
About 3.88 million Chinese have signed up for the 2025 national exam for postgraduate enrolment scheduled from Dec. 21 to 22. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)
Flags fly at half-mast at the German Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Dec. 21, 2024. German Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser ordered Saturday morning that all flags at all federal buildings be flown at half-mast nationwide to mourn the victims of a tragic attack at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg on Friday night, where a car rammed into a crowd, killing at least five people and injuring 200 others. (Xinhua/Liu Yang)
Qatari flag is seen hoisted at the Qatari embassy in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 21, 2024. Qatar officially reopened its embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday, raising its national flag over the building for the first time in 13 years. (Photo by Monsef Memari/Xinhua)
Staff members greet tourists at the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Dec. 21, 2024. The world's largest ice-and-snow theme park, the 26th edition of the Harbin Ice-Snow World, officially opened at 10 a.m. in Harbin, the capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province also known as the "city of ice."
Themed "Dream of Winter, Love among Asia," the park was built using 300,000 cubic meters of ice and snow, incorporating elements inspired by the upcoming 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games, which will open next February, right after China's Spring Festival holiday. It is also the first major international ice and snow event hosted by China since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
With an overall planned area of 1 million square meters, up from last year's 800,000 square meters, the park is the largest in its 26-year history. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)
AC Milan's Samuel Chukwueze (L) vies with Hellas Verona's Lorenzo Montipo during a Serie A soccer match between Hellas Verona and AC Milan in Verona, Italy, Dec. 20, 2024. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)
