Six stories you may have missed from China this week – from amazing barbecues to government officials in costume hitting the internet.

How Zibo barbecues stormed TikTok

Videos of the "Zibo barbecue" published on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, were played 4.96 billion times since the city of Zibo stormed the Internet.

In March, the small city with a 4.7 million population saw 4.8 million tourists flown in. Zibo topped the train ticket search chart and Beijing to Zibo train tickets sold out in a minute.

Zibo is certainly not the only city in China that offers barbecue, or even the most famous one, but its seemingly sudden fame was steps in the making.

Space mission Shenzhou-16 set for launch

China's next manned space mission – the Shenzhou-16 spaceship – will be launched soon. 

Originally a backup spacecraft for the Shenzhou-15 mission, the new spacecraft will carry three taikonauts, or Chinese astronauts, to the China Space Station, where they will meet with the three-person Shenzhou-15 crew.

They will carry out spacewalks like their predecessors, and conduct scientific experiments and technology verification.

How officials found a creative way to boost tourism

Who are they? Influencers? Actors? Cosplayers? They have become an internet sensation and they are Chinese local government officials! 

They have been coming up with creative ways to boost tourism. Starting from 2020, many directors of culture in China filmed short videos to sell the best spots in their towns and cities. 

World's largest offshore LNG terminal launches

The world's largest offshore LNG terminal near Hong Kong, has entered trial operation. The two-berth offshore terminal, plus a land-based LNG terminal and two submarine pipelines, belongs to the Hong Kong LNG project. 

Once completed, the project will increase the share of clean energy in the region's electricity production.

Total fishing ban in main rivers and seas for sustainability

The four seas of China - the Bohai Sea, the Huanghai Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and the seven major river basins, including the Yellow, Huaihe, Yangtze and Pearl rivers, have banned fishing for two-and-a-half months.

From an ancient Chinese book Yi Zhou Shu recorded a rule in Xia and Shang dynasties (2070 BC-1045 BC), saying "during the three months of summer, fishing nets shall not enter rivers and lakes, so the fish and turtles can grow." 

In the following dynasties, different rules were implemented for a same purpose – to protect marine and freshwater environments and support sustainable development.

Wild rare animals caught on camera

Infrared camera footage has shown a variety of rare and endangered animals in Pingxiang City of east China's Jiangxi Province.

It includes yellow-bellied tragopans and white-necked long-tailed pheasants. Also spotted were Chinese ferret-badger, crab-eating mongoose and greater hog badger.

The Jiangxi Academy of Forestry recently conducted a survey in Lianhua County to investigate the terrestrial vertebrate wild animals in the region.

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