Wild lilies bloom in full to embrace the arrival of spring in NW China's Xinjiang (2)

In March, the yellow star-like tepals of the Gagea lutea species of wild lilies, which are also known as "top ice flowers," started to bloom in silence under a shroud of snow and ice, nourished by the melting snowpack's trickling waters in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, heralding the arrival of spring. (Photo/Aihemaiti)