Rare auroras light up the sky in northern China

Residents in northern China witnessed rare auroras on Wednesday evening as a strong geomagnetic storm peaked during a period of high solar activity.

In Beijing, pale pink and green lights appeared around 19:00 and drifted across the sky for about 20 minutes. People in Huairou and Yanqing shared images of the display.

Li Xin of the Beijing Planetarium said auroras remain unusual in China but become possible during solar maximum, especially in darker northern areas.

Further north, in Hulunbuir, the lights lasted nearly 10 hours, with deep red and green bands visible over Genhe and Erguna.