NE China's Heilongjiang ramps up efforts to boost snow and ice tourism

Although Heilongjiang, China’s northernmost and easternmost province, has entered its coldest season of the year, it is still in the midst of a high season for tourism. The various snow and ice activities rolled out for tourists have demonstrated the diversity of and the tendency toward recovery of the province’s snow and ice tourism.

Tourists enjoy themselves inside the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Su Jinggang)

On Jan. 5, the opening day of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, a giant snowman over 18 meters tall and made with more than 2,000 cubic meters of snow attracted crowds of tourists and locals. That evening, the century-old Central Street in Harbin was lit up by ice sculptures illuminated with colored lights.

Tourists go sightseeing on Central Street in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Su Jinggang)

The countryside of Heilongjiang Province has also given tourists an impressive travel experience. For instance, the ''Snow Town" scenic area offered many characteristic elements to tourists, including mushroom-shaped snow attractions, more than 3,000 red lanterns, one-storey wood houses, baked sweet potatoes and iron pot stew, a famous dish in northeast China.

"I've never seen such magnificent snow attractions. During this trip, I experienced the scenery and folk customs in northeast China and I'm really impressed," said Jiang Shuqing, a tourist from Shanghai.

A street in the Snow Town scenic area, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, is filled with tourists. (Photo courtesy of the Snow Town scenic area)

Tourists get on a bus in an orderly manner inside the Snow Town scenic area, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Photo courtesy of the Snow Town scenic area)

The Snow Town scenic area had already sold more than 100,000 entrance tickets before opening for business on Dec. 12, 2022. The scenic area also bolstered its transportation network to meet the surging demand, improving the travel experience for tourists.

Many other localities in Heilongjiang Province have held snow and ice festivals and rolled out snow and ice travel products in a bid to bring in tourists. Heilongjiang also promoted its snow and ice resources in 10 cities around the country that it considered to be important markets. These efforts show that the province is going all out to build a new pattern for the high-quality development of snow and ice tourism.

Photo shows a vehicle testing ground in Heihe city, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Su Jinggang)

Heihe city in Heilongjiang Province, which is covered in snow and ice for about half of the year, provides an ideal place for automobile manufacturers to conduct vehicle testing. The city has become a cold-region vehicle testing ground that boasts the best conditions and the strongest capacity for holding testing events. During the season for vehicle testing every year, about 200 vehicle manufacturers from home and abroad come to Heihe to conduct vehicle tests, boosting the development of related sectors including hotels, restaurants and transportation.

Cold water fish is a specialty product in Heilongjiang. In December 2022, the province held various winter fishing activities. At one such activity held in Mudanjiang city, the total catch of the first net of fish reached 119,000 kg, and the first three fishes harvested during the activity - a spotted silver carp, a carp and a Mandarin fish - were sold at 1 million yuan ($148,000), 2 million yuan and 3 million yuan respectively at an auction held during the activity. 

China's ice and snow industry has seen robust growth since the country hosted the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. The sector's market value is expected to exceed 800 billion yuan ($118.4 billion) in 2022 and reach 1 trillion yuan ($148 billion) in 2025, according to one report.

Building on the momentum, Heilongjiang is exploring a path toward the transformation of its "cold resources" into a "hot economy."

In 2022, Heilongjiang formulated a development plan for the snow and ice economy (2022-2030) and issued policies and measures to support its development, putting forward new strategies and ideas to boost the sector and implementing the blueprint for a modern snow and ice economy underpinned by snow and ice sports, culture, equipment and tourism.

On Jan. 20, 2023, the General Office of the People's Government of Heilongjiang Province unveiled policies and measures aimed at promoting the recovery of economic operations in the province, which mentioned that state-owned scenic areas in the province will be encouraged to waive general entrance fees until June 30, 2023.