Guangxi cordons off snow

Visitors take photos of the snow at Qingxiu mountain in Nanning city, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Jan 24, 2016. [Photo/CFP]

When the capital city of the southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region saw its first snowfall in 41 years on Sunday, the three-millimeter thin snow on the observation deck in a popular scenic area was cordoned off.

More than 20,000 tourists visited Qingxiu mountain on Sunday and pictures began circulating online showing lines of visitors standing outside the cordoned off area and taking pictures of the rarely seen snow.

Police said they had to cordon off the area to protect visitors from treading on the snow and falling down, while some Internet users joked that the cordons were there to protect the snow because it was so thin that walking on it would make it disappear.