Girls from the Miao ethnic group dress up in ethnic costumes to celebrate the traditional Lusheng Festival on December 12, 2022 in Congjiang County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province of China. (Photo by Mo Xiaoshu/VCG via Getty Images)

Cute giant pandas enjoy life in China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda in Wenchuan County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province, 8 February, 2023. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A rider picks up a hada, a traditional Tibetan ceremonial scarf, during a horse racing event of the 18th Mount Qomolangma culture and tourism festival in Xigaze, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region on June 20, 2023. (Photo by Sun Fei/Xinhua News Agency/Alamy Live News)

A man cuts dog meat at a dog meat restaurant ahead of local dog meat festival in Yulin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China on June 21, 2018. The festival in the southwestern town of Yulin has long drawn international criticism, with thousands of dogs traditionally being killed during the event. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

A folk artist gives a fire pot performance at the foot of Ulan Hada volcano group on November 16, 2024 in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. A tourism festival themed on ice and snow opened in Ulanqab on November 16, which will last for five months. (Photo by Wang Zheng/VCG via Getty Images)

People visit a frozen waterfall illuminated by colorful lights at Dadunxia sceneic area on December 25, 2022 in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province of China. (Photo by Shi Youdong/VCG via Getty Images)

The Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India during the 1959 Tibetan uprising. It is now a museum and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ryo Minemizu, one of Japan’s emerging stars in the field of marine life photography and the 2017 winner of the Nikkei National Geographic photography prize, captures the beauty and complexity of plankton that drift in our planet’s oceans and other bodies of water in meticulous detail. Here: Batesian mimicry by a Soleichthys fish larva. (Photo by Ryo Minemizu/The Guardian)