Potala Palace is lit up at night as people visit Potala Palace Square on June 16, 2023 in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Chinas government says it has invested heavily in infrastructure, education, employment, health care and a regional tourism industry to develop Tibets economy. However, critics believe the scale of development is coming at an irreversible cost to culture and the environment on the Tibetan plateau by eroding traditional Tibetan religion, language, and culture. Chinese officials argue their development policies have helped to alleviate poverty and boost prosperity without diminishing religious and cultural freedoms or environmental protection. Foreign journalists are normally not permitted to travel to the autonomous region without a special permit and some were recently taken on a visit organized by local and state level officials to coincide with the 5th China Xizang Tourism and Culture Expo, the first since 2019 after the country ended its zero COVID policy late last year. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)





A woman carries an umbrella during a heatwave in Beijing on June 23, 2023. China issued its highest-level heat alert for northern parts of the country on June 23 as the capital baked in temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). (Photo by Greg Baker/AFP Photo)





Air conditioner units at a building in Shanghai, China, on Friday, June 23, 2023. Extreme weather is already promising a fresh test of the electricity grid just months after heat waves and drought throttled hydropower and triggered widespread power shortages. (Photo by Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)





People wear head coverings during a heatwave in Beijing on June 23, 2023. China issued its highest-level heat alert for northern parts of the country on June 23 as the capital baked in temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). (Photo by Greg Baker/AFP Photo)





A girl runs along with members of an honor guard as they practice a march near the Forbidden City on the hot day in Beijing, Sunday, June 25, 2023. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)





Xiamen Airlines' Boeing 787 aircraft flies as the moon illuminates the night sky on June 26, 2023 in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)





This aerial photo taken on June 27, 2023 shows farmers working at a rice field in Haian, in China's eastern Jiangsu province. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)





Tourists watch water gushing out from the Xiaolangdi Reservoir on the Yellow River on June 27, 2023 in Jiyuan, Henan Province of China. (Photo by Li Peixian/VCG via Getty Images)





In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, rescuers work at a landslide site in Miansi Township of Wenchuan County in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Several people were found dead and others remained missing after landslides hit a county in China's southwestern Sichuan province on Tuesday, leading to authorities evacuating more than 900 people. (Photo by Xinhua via AP Photo)





This photo taken on June 27, 2023 shows firefighters taking part in a drill for chemical leakage in Huaian, in China's eastern Jiangsu province. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)





A pedestrian walking through a footbridge is silhouetted as Chinese and Hong Kong flags are strung to mark the 26th anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China in Hong Kong, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. (Photo by Louise Delmotte/AP Photo)





Aerial view of tourists cooling off at a water park in summer on June 27, 2023 in Zhengzhou, Henan Province of China. Zhengzhou Meteorological Observatory on June 27 issued an orange alert for high temperatures. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)





This aerial photo taken on June 28, 2023 shows people listening to a band playing music on the top of a building in Nanchang, in China's central Jiangxi province. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)





A French rock climber named Jean Michel Casanova scales the 172-meter-high steel derrick of the Bailong Elevator, also known as Bailong Sky Ladder, with his bare hands at the Wulingyuan Scenic Area on June 28, 2023 in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province of China. (Photo by Deng Daoli/VCG via Getty Images)





Wu Yi, a long-nosed (proboscis monkey) monkey baby meets the public with its mother Pety at Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou City, south China's Guangdong Province on June 29, 2023. (Photo by Splash News)





A woman wear a face cover and carry an umbrella to shield from the sun as she walks on a street on a hot day in Beijing, Thursday, June 29, 2023. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)





Aerial photo shows bullet trains on the Nanjing South Bullet Train parking line in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China, early on June 30, 2023. From midnight on July 1, the national railway will implement a new train operation map, and at the same time, the 2023 summer rush (July 1 to August 31) will also be officially launched. After the adjustment of the map, the national railway arrangement plan has 10,592 passenger trains, an increase of 46 trains compared with the current map. A total of 22,182 cargo trains were put into operation, an increase of 394 over the current figure, and the railway passenger and cargo transport capacity, service quality and operation efficiency were further improved. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)





Passengers watch a performance on the high-speed train G2963 on July 1, 2023. The train started on Saturday morning from Chengdu, the capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, heading for Hong Kong. It marked the opening of a direct high-speed train service between Chengdu and Hong Kong. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)





People wave Chinese flags during the 26th handover anniversary on July 1, 2023 in Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong is marking the 26th anniversary of its handover from Britain to China on July 1. (Photo by Sawayasu Tsuji/Getty Images)





This aerial photo taken on July 2, 2023 shows farmers harvesting watermelons in Taizhou, in China's eastern Jiangsu province. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)