The 2025 China Film Festival opened Friday evening here, with more than 300 guests attending the opening ceremony and watching the animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2."

In pics: crosstalk comedy performance in north China's Tianjin

China's year-end box office has surpassed 2.5 billion yuan ($350 million) as of Saturday morning, according to online data covering the November 28–December 31 release window.

Two years after returning to his original hometown in southwest China's Sichuan Province, giant panda Yuan Meng, born at France's Beauval Zoo, has become a local celebrity, earning the nickname "Director Sheep" for his distinctive bleating sounds.Giant panda Yuan Meng frolics at the Chengdu

After bidding farewell to giant pandas Huan Huan and Yuan Zi, who recently concluded their 13-year stay in France, the country is expected to welcome a new pair of pandas in 2027.

For Zhou Yu, the question began as a quiet uncertainty: Could a drama set in China's insurance industry possibly find an audience overseas?

With the arrival of Major Snow, the 21st of the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms, midwinter begins. During this period, snowfall becomes heavier and more frequent, and daylight grows shorter. This year, Major Snow runs from December 7 to December 21. (Video source: Kuaishou; compiled by Jiang Shuguang)

With China ranking second in the 2025 edition of the Global Soft Power Index, a top business chief has stressed the role of the country's ever-expanding global engagement in changing perspectives and understanding of the country around the world.

The 2025 Understanding China Conference was held in Guangzhou from November 30 to December 2. Themed "New Plan, New Development, New Choices ‒ Chinese Modernization and New Vision for Global Governance," the event brought together some 800 participants from China and abroad, 70 percent from the Global South. People's Daily reporter Lily interviews attendees from Russia, Spain, Fiji and other countries. Let's hear how they describe China in their eyes. (Produced by He Jieqiong, Di Jingyuan and Han Xiaomeng; Cover photo by Chu Chu; Interns Chen Yijun, Sun Yuqing, Wu Jiayi and Wan Peixin also contributed to the video)

In Qingzhen City, Southwest China's Guizhou Province, locals transform golden gourds, pumpkins and watermelons into lanterns - carving each with care to pray for good weather and a bountiful harvest in the year ahead. Recognized as a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage, this tradition lights up the community with hope and artistry. (Video Source: Kuaishou)

Fleurs de Villes NOËL event held in Toronto, Canada

More than 210,000 people with heart and breathing problems sought emergency care in Iran from Nov. 22 to Dec. 1 as air pollution spiked in several cities, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Wednesday.

In a martial arts club in Yaounde's Mimboman neighborhood, the steady thud of feet and sharp shouts fill the room as scores of students mirror the fluid, forceful movements of their instructor, Martin Mangwandjo.

The "China Film Night in Jeddah" was held on Wednesday evening in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, featuring a screening of the Chinese film The Lychee Road.

Zayed National Museum opened Wednesday as the center of the Saadiyat Cultural District, a major new arts hub where the United Arab Emirates (UAE) gathers its premier cultural institutions.

A farmer from Shandong Province, Zhao Tongkai, recently made a large-scale portrait of the Zootopia 2 characters Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde using black wheat, earning him major clout on Douyin. Zhao started the project on December 1 by outlining the characters with chalk in his courtyard, then filling in the lines with black wheat. He filmed the process and posted it to the popular Chinese short-video platform, where it has so far garnered over 3 million likes and 1.75 million shares.