Ice-and-snow economy booms in China's historic city

Coach Gao Rui (2nd R) and her students pose for photos at a winter camp in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, Dec. 23, 2023. (Xinhua)

TAIYUAN, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Near the ancient city wall of Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, snow sculptures, ice cascades and ice-and-snow activities create a wonderland for tourists.

"This is not the first time we have come to the ancient city wall of Datong, but playing with the ice and snow here is a brand-new experience," said a tourist surnamed Dou from Beijing.

Jia Yan, planning director of the project, said, "It is the first time for us to build an ice-snow theme park in the ancient city of Datong," adding it was an exploration they did following a craze for ice-snow recently.

Jia said during summer the park's lawn is used for camping. But now in winter, the park lures tourists to the ancient city with its rich ice and snow activities.

Local residents can experience ice-snow fun at their doorstep, Jia noted. The park attracted more than 15,000 visitors during the New Year's Day holiday.

This winter, ice and snow sports venues in Datong have received more than 110,000 tourists, raking in about 12 million yuan (about 1.69 million U.S. dollars).

In addition to tourism, this winter the local government has organized free skiing and skating training for students from 25 primary and secondary schools in Datong.

"We hope more and more youngsters love and stick to ice sports after their training," said Gao Yong with Datong's sports bureau.

Datong Foreign Languages School also caters to winter sports activities, and it accommodates ice and snow clubs, professional ice-snow sports training teams and physical education lessons that are held twice a week.

Chen Xin, one of the school's winter sports coaches, has conducted professional training with the speed skating team since he was invited to become a coach last year.

"Although team members are of different ages, they are all hardworking and their improvements have been noticeable recently," said Chen.

Speed skating team members of the Datong Foreign Languages School are pictured during their training in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, Nov. 28, 2023. (Xinhua)