Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over a millennium, and has the reputation as its most beautiful city. However, recent events have made the city bloom in a rare color. Kyoto has been experiencing the coldest days this winter with temperatures dropping below 0° Celsius (32° Fahrenheit) and it became a white wonderland.

The average January temperature in Kyoto is 5°C (41°F), so the rare occasion inspired people to document it using photographs. Being one of the biggest UNESCO World Heritage site in the world, a snow blanket-covered Kyoto has amazing sights to offer for the photographers. The Golden Pavillion, Geisha district of Gion, Arashiyama bamboo forest, and other places look peaceful in a really non-tradition kind of way. Here are some of the best images of a snowy Kyoto!

Update: we want to apologize to Lucas Shu for posting his image without a watermark. We credit each and every image with a link below it, but as Lucas Shu pointed out the images get stolen and spread around the internet and the credits get lost. We apologize for our mistake, and we'll do our best not to repeat that again.

(h/t: rocketnews24)