Chinese honor guards participate in a welcome ceremony in Tianjin, China, on August 31, 2025, as Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. (Vladimir Smirnov via Getty Images)
A Chinese flag flutters in the wind at a beach on Pingtan Island, the closest point in China to Taiwan’s main island, in Fujian Province, China, on October 15, 2024. (Adek Berry via Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects troops during a parade commemorating the seventieth anniversary of the end of World War II in Beijing on September 3, 2015. (Huang Xiaobang via Getty Images)
Wild peach and apricot flowers are in full bloom in Yanqing District, encircling the Longquanyu Great Wall on March 25, 2025, in Beijing. (Hao Jihong via Getty Images)