Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture

Armed with selfie sticks and freshly recovered from COVID, Chinese tourists ambled through bar streets in the country's backpacker haven of Dali, partying the stress of the past three years into oblivion.

As Lunar New Year approaches, China is seeing a domestic travel boom after the government abruptly dismantled its longstanding zero-COVID strategy last month.

An elephant herd that fascinated locals and people around the world by making a yearlong journey into urbanized southwest China, raiding farms and even a retirement home for food, appears finally to be headed home.

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