Opening Thoughts
Did you know? During the just-concluded Spring Festival, the northern city of Harbin achieved an incredible miracle - receiving over 10 million visitors in just 7 days, with tourism revenue exceeding 16 billion yuan. As a native of Northeast China, I have never seen my hometown so lively in winter.
This makes me reflect: even a world of ice and snow can become a "treasure bowl." Today, let me take you into 2024's hottest ice and snow tourism market to see what surprises this snow-covered land has in store.
Harbin Sketch
Remember the "Harbin tourism craze" that went viral during this year's New Year holiday? As a travel blogger who has visited Harbin seven or eight times, I must say: this city deserves all the attention.
This year's Harbin Ice and Snow World is simply a magical ice fairy castle. Can you imagine? The entire park covers an area of 810,000 square meters, using 250,000 cubic meters of ice and snow. To put this in perspective, this amount of ice and snow could build 100 three-story buildings. The 500-meter-long slide in the park has long queues every day, with visitors' excited screams heard from morning till night.
What impressed me most were the ice and snow activities on the Songhua River. In my childhood, we only skated and played ice games on the river, but now: snow karting, snow tube drifting, and you can even take a hot air balloon ride to overlook the entire ice city. This isn't just a river anymore - it's a massive ice and snow playground.
New Look of Jilin
If Harbin is the "traffic bearer" of ice and snow tourism, then Jilin is this winter's biggest "dark horse." The New Year holiday tourism data for Jilin Province was eye-popping: visitor numbers increased by over 400% year-on-year, while tourism revenue grew by an astounding 659%.
As a travel blogger who frequently visits Northeast China, I believe Jilin's success lies in its product diversification. Want to ski? Take your pick between Changbai Mountain and Beidahu. Want to see rime ice? Take a walk along the Songhua River in Jilin City for amazing photos. Prefer an artistic vibe? Yanji's viral bullet screen wall and Changchun's cultural tourism tram line are both worth visiting.
New Industry Observations
Ice and snow tourism today is more than just viewing ice and playing in snow. During my recent visits to various ice and snow scenic areas, I noticed an interesting phenomenon: visitor demographics are becoming increasingly diverse.
The other day at a ski resort, I met a group of tourists from Guangdong. They told me they specifically took a week off to experience the northern ice and snow. This reminded me of a statistic: now over 30% of ice and snow sports participants are tourists from southern China.
Even more interesting are the new "Ice and Snow+" experiences. For example, I recently tried a "snow hot spring" activity: playing in the snow during the day, then soaking in warm hot springs while watching snowfall at night - this contrast of ice and fire was amazing.
Future Outlook
Standing at the 2024 timeline, I believe the ice and snow tourism industry is undergoing an unprecedented upgrade.
The most obvious change is the improvement in digitalization. Now when going skiing, you can book equipment, instructors, and accommodation online in advance, and enter the venue by scanning a code, saving a lot of queuing time.
What I'm looking forward to even more is the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin. I believe this event will not only bring more visitors to Harbin but will also promote the upgrade and development of ice and snow tourism throughout Northeast China.
Looking back ten years ago, who could have imagined that the frigid Northeast could turn "cold resources" into such a "hot economy"? Perhaps this is the charm of ice and snow tourism: it not only allows visitors to experience the romance of ice and snow but also drives regional economic development.
Have you visited any ice and snow cities in Northeast China recently? Feel free to share your travel stories in the comments.
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