Winter's biting cold gives rise to uniquely breathtaking scenes. 

Rime clinging to branches, unfrozen rivers snaking through the landscape, "ice butterflies" adorning mountain shrubs, and mysterious frozen bubbles trapped in lake ice—each invites you into a real-life winter wonderland.

Rime

Recommended viewing spots:

Rime Island in Jilin

Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie, Hunan

Mount Huangshan in Anhui

Mount Taishan in Shandong

Rime forms when water vapor in the air deposits at low temperatures or when supercooled fog droplets freeze on contact. When rime adorns the branches, the winter atmosphere becomes fully realized.

Ice bubbles

Recommended viewing spots:

Sayram Lake, Xinjiang

Lianhua Lake and Dongshan Lake, Heilongjiang

When temperatures fall sharply and a lake surface freezes, marsh gas produced by submerged plants can become trapped and freeze in the ice, creating layered "ice bubbles" that look like a dream.

Ice waterfalls

Recommended viewing spots:

Nuorilang Waterfall in Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan

Jiuru Mountain Waterfall Cluster, Shandong

Jinfo Mountain, Chongqing

Yunpubo Gully, Beijing

When temperatures plunge in winter, waterfalls flowing over subzero rock gradually freeze, building magnificent ice-waterfall formations that resemble a fairyland.

Floating ice

Recommended viewing spots:

Hukou Waterfall on the Yellow River

The Maqu Section of the Yellow River, Gansu

The Duguitala Section of Hangjin Banner, Inner Mongolia

Floating ice is a natural spectacle that occurs when ice floes and river water move together before a river fully freezes or as it begins to thaw. As chunks of ice drift downstream, they create a dynamic, dramatic interplay of ice and water.

Ice butterflies

Recommended viewing spots:

Daze Village in Wenxi and Doulonggou Village in Houma, Shanxi

From December through February, when temperature, humidity, wind strength, and wind direction align, thin ice filaments form on withered grasses and shrubs in the mountains, resembling butterflies fluttering gracefully.

Ice naan (ice discs)

Recommended viewing spots:

Sayram Lake, Xinjiang

Ice naan forms on cold lakes or seas from scattered ice fragments that drift and spin in the water. Over time they grow into disc-shaped ice bodies—thin in the center and thicker at the edges.

Ice halos

Recommended viewing spots:

Karamay, Xinjiang

Hailar, Inner Mongolia

Ice halos are rare atmospheric optical phenomena caused by the refraction and reflection of light by airborne ice crystals. Their occurrence is inherently unpredictable.

Snow mushrooms

Recommended viewing spots:

Kanas, Xinjiang

Snow Village, Heilongjiang

When snowflakes drift down and the ground is blanketed white, snow mushrooms form on stones and wooden stumps—round, plump, and undeniably charming.