Yellow wintersweet, a flower endemic to China, is frozen instantly, leaving the blossom in the ice. Photo: Xu Jingyi/GT

Kuocang Mountain, at 1382.6 meters in altitude, is the highest natural structure in Southeast China's Zhejiang Province. Standing on Mishailang, its main peak, it is said that you can see the first stream of sunlight onto the Chinese mainland. Linhai ancient town, built during the Jin Dynasty (265-420). It has a part of a large defensive wall built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The wall, which extended to 5,000m, was to protect against incursions from pirates (who operated in Chinese coastal waters from the fourteenth to the 16th centuries). Photo: Xu Jingyi/GT Huangshidan village, bottom of Kuocang Mountain, Linhai County, Zhejiang Province. Photo: Xu Jingyi/GT Snow is rare in South China, even in winter. But at the high altitude, the snow melts slowly and gives an impression of sights in North China. Photo: Xu Jingyi/GT Winding one’s way up the mountain. The clear-cut car trails snake through the snow, till they are out of sight. Photo: Xu Jingyi/GT