YIWU, China—Li Bingnan got his orders in October: Design a snake-themed sculpture for his hometown——and make the scaly, legless creature cute. The Year of the Snake is slithering closer ...

TASS/. The Lunar New Year kicked off in China overnight on Wednesday or at 4 p.m. GMT on Tuesday. The Green Wood Dragon, last year’s symbol, is officially out, and the Green Wood Snake is in.

for “his great contribution to herpetological research in China, especially in snake research.” The new species’ common name refers to the Yuanyang Guanyinshan Provincial Nature Reserve ...