A flag-raising ceremony marking the 22nd anniversary of Macao’s return to the motherland is held at GoldenLotus Square in the Macao Special Administrative Region of China on December 20， 2021. （ZHANG JINJIA）

Medical workers conduct COVID-19 nucleic acid tests at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi’an， northwest China’s Shaanxi Province， on December 21， 2021. After a cluster of COVID-19 cases were reported on December 9， citywide screening was carried out. （VISUAL.PEOPLE.CN）

Snow-covered Bapu Town in LiangshanYi AutonomousPrefecture， Sichuan Province， December 24， 2021. （LIUGUOXING）

Soldiers rescue children in aflood-hit area on the outskirtsof Kuala Lumpur， Malaysia， onDecember 20， 2021. Thousandsof local people were trapped byMalaysia’s worst flooding in yearsfollowing several days of torrentialdownpours in the capital andaround the country. （VCG）

A masked police officer descendsan escalator behind a maskedstatue at Suvarnabhumi Airport inBangkok， Thailand， on December27， 2021. To curb the spread of theCOVID-19 Omicron variant， thecountry suspended quarantine-freetravel passes for inbound visitors onDecember 22. （OU XIN）

Masked students attendclass in Pasay， Metro Manila，Philippines， on December6， 2021. With the COVID-19pandemic gradually broughtunder control， some schools inthe region resumed in-personteaching. （XINHUA）

In Singapore， tiger-themedlantern decorations celebratethe upcoming Chinese NewYear， also the Year of the Tiger.（THEN CHIH WEY）