Where winter takes shape

Topical themes this year include the Year of the Ox, the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China's founding.

Many visitors to the event also stop in the nearby Yongning ancient town to visit its temple, church and iconic 1,300-year-old Yuhuang Pavilion.

The settlement was a thriving commerce hub in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, when it attracted businesspeople from around the country to set up shops.

Travelers stroll along its main pedestrian street, where townspeople vend local produce and folk crafts, and pop into eateries to try such specialties as boiled tofu and "fire spoon" pastries-disks of dough that diners stuff with pig-head pork or donkey meat.