Frosting plants glittered in the sunshine at Shiyang River National Wetland Park on Dec 13, making up a picturesque silver world. [Photo by Yan Changshi]

With Shiyang River flowing into Minqin Basin, Shiyang River National Wetland Park in Minqin county of Gansu province, covering an area of 6,176.2 hectare, enjoys a complex wetland ecosystem of river wetland, marsh wetland and constructed wetland. It also nourishes higher plants of 37 families, 107genus and 198 species, among which the major dominant plants are artificial arbor forest and natural shrubwood, and the wetland plants are mainly Reed, Typha angustifolia, Scirpus triqueter, and Leymus secalinus. 

A suddenly temperature drop enabled the over-saturated steam to condense and to accumulate as white ice crystals coving the plants, forming a majestic rime scene. A frozen world of golden sunshine and glittering rime is truly breathtaking.