Shanghai Daily news

A rare snowfall in the city and an ongoing cold snap kept most people away from Shanghai's public parks over the New Year's holiday.
According to several big parks in the city, the number of visitors over New Year's holiday decreased by at least 50 percent compared with the same period last year.
Shanghai century Park welcomed nearly 10,000 people over the three-day holiday.
Gongqing forest Park in Yangpu District said it lost at least 1,200 visitors a day because of the low temperatures, receiving about 3,000 people during the three days.
Shanghai botanical Garden, one of the biggest gardens in China, received only 1,000 visitors over the New Year's break, 60 percent less than during a normal winter vacation.
"Many people gave up the rare opportunity of viewing trees and flowers in white, being scared away by temperatures below zero degrees," said Pan Xiuwen, an official with the Shanghai Zoo.
The zoo welcomed about 2,000 people a day over the holiday, down from 6,000 to 7,000 visitors a day last year.
Pan said the situation would have been better if the snow arrived on December 31 instead of falling a day earlier.
"Even those who really wanted to appreciate the snow-shrouded landscapes didn't come, fearing that it might disappear two days later," she added.
Winter is always a slow season for most outdoor parks, business insiders said. They added that most local parks haven't set high expectations for the number of visitors during the Spring Festival next month.