In praise of low profiles

As travel trends shift, once overlooked city is attracting new admirers, Yang Feiyue reports in Yancheng, Jiangsu.

With a mix of curiosity and excitement, Samar Keekeni let out a small squeal as she slipped a carrot into the wide, eager mouth of a giant milu deer.

The 28-year-old woman from Tunisia was visiting the Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, in mid-April, and this up-close encounter was unlike anything she had experienced before.

"At first, I was a little scared when one of the deer came right up to my face," she says with a laugh. "But the way it gently took the carrot from my hand — and the way it chewed, so calm and cute — it melted my heart. I just kept feeding more of them as I walked through the reserve."