(Yicai Global) Dec. 28 -- 2020 has been an extraordinary year. Below are 10 photos that encapsulate the past 12 months in China.

A 150-strong medical team prepared to board a flight from Chongqing to Wuhan on Jan. 24 to help support the city’s battle with the novel coronavirus outbreak.

More than 100 diggers prepared the ground for an emergency coronavirus hospital in Wuhan on Jan. 24. Tens of thousands of workers labored around the clock to finish Huoshenshan Hospital in just 10 days.

A physical education teacher at a middle school in Hangzhou made training videos at home for his students as the coronavirus disrupted schooling.

Cars passed through a toll gate in Wuhan after the city lifted travel restrictions on April 8.

A night market in Shenyang was busy on June 5 as China fired up the street vendor economy.

Spectators looked on as a Long March 5 rocket blasted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern Hainan province on July 23 carrying China’s Tianwen-1 Mars rover.

Masked moviegoers enjoyed a film at a Beijing theater after the capital city’s cinemas reopened on July 24 following a six-month closure.

Due to heavy rains and flooding upstream, the Leshan Giant Buddha, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sichuan province, got its feet wet for the first time since 1949.

Renowned respiratory disease expert Dr. Zhong Nanshan was awarded the Medal of the Republic, China’s highest state honor, for his outstanding contribution to fighting the Covid-19 epidemic, on Sept. 8.

The Long March-5 lifted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on Nov. 24 carrying the Chang’e-5 lunar probe. Its safe return to Earth on Dec. 16 concluded China’s first attempt to retrieve samples from an extraterrestrial body.

Editor: Peter Thomas