Inkstone

Streets across China are left deserted amid the spread of the coronavirus and government curbs on travel. Check out the gallery of photos taken by Reuters for the rare sight of empty streets in Beijing and Shanghai.

As the coronavirus spreads globally, airports and airlines are heightening their screening of passengers coming from mainland China. Airports around the world have enacted temperature screenings for passengers, and face masks at airports have become more common. Major airlines like British Airways and American Airlines have started to suspend flights to and from mainland China.

Every year, the northern city of Harbin puts on a festival that features structures — sometimes delicate, oftentimes gigantic and always beautiful — built entirely out of snow and ice.  This year's festival is no different. It features frozen worlds, ice dragons and even the occasional penguin parade.  Take a visual tour of the 36th Harbin Ice and Snow Festival 2020. 

Photographers in China visit Beijing, the mountains of Shaanxi and the city of Taiyun to build a beautiful photo gallery of winter in China. 

A three-year-old girl from northeastern China’s Liaoning province confused her parents by staring out the window for hours. The reason is truly adorable.

Xuan paper, or traditional rice paper, is widely used in Chinese painting and calligraphy.  The paper has a history of more than 1,000 years. It originated from Xuancheng City in the eastern province of Anhui. The manufacturing process goes through over 100 stages, and it takes at least one year to make.  The Cao family has been making Xuan paper since the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The craft has been passed down the generations.  Check out the gallery to see how the paper is made.

Authorities in a southern Chinese city have suspended plans to build a crematorium following two days of clashes between riot police and residents in scenes that drew comparisons to the continuing unrest in Hong Kong. The clashes in Wenlou, which is about 60 miles north of Hong Kong, began on Thursday when hundreds of locals tried to march on the town’s government offices in protest against plans to build a crematorium on land they believed had been set aside for a park. But police intervened, firing tear gas and using batons to fend off the crowds. Dozens of people were injured and as many as 100 were detained, witnesses said. Authorities in Huazhou, Guangdong province, issued a notice late

“City of Darkness” is an exhibition exploring the long gone Walled City of Kowloon in Hong Kong as photographed by Greg Girard and Ian Lambot. Lambot and Girard set about photographing the Walled City shortly before its demolition in 1994 due to a deep fascination with the site. Nearly 30 years on from the Walled City’s demolition, this project offers a unique insight into the remarkable community, home to an estimated 50,000 people at its peak, and by far the most densely populated neighborhood the world had ever known.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Taipei took to the streets over the weekend to support gay rights in the first pride parade in Taiwan since it became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex unions. Crowds of people waved rainbow flags and rode on flamboyant floats from City Hall for the 3.5 mile walk, whose theme this year was: “Together, make Taiwan better.”

A bubble tea exhibit has opened in Singapore, where boba lovers can dive into a pit of 10,000 plastic boba.  There's also a scent wall where visitors can sniff and try out several different types of tea.