Harbin's ice festival extended year-round

HARBIN — Despite the subzero chill, Hong Kong middle schoolers Hu Ying and Huang Jiawen stood transfixed before glittering ice sculptures at Harbin Ice and Snow World's indoor park, captivated by Northeast China's frozen artistry.

"Every piece is exquisite, especially this Siberian tiger, which is so lifelike," said Hu, who traveled here with Huang for their Easter break.

The teens are part of a growing number of visitors discovering the year-round ice and snow charm of Harbin, dubbed China's ice city, located in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.

As spring brings warmth to most of China, Harbin is defying the seasons with innovative, year-round ice and snow attractions.

Its world's largest indoor ice-snow theme park reopened on Feb 27, maintaining a frosty-10 C to preserve intricate carvings blending Asian Winter Games motifs and global cultural themes.

"We rushed here after visiting Central Street," said Huang. "Now I'm already planning a winter return with my family."

At the Bonski indoor ski resort in the city's Songbei district, 14-year-old Wu Yupeng skillfully carved his way down the snow track.

A seasoned skier, Wu is a yearround regular at the resort.

The number of visitors has increased significantly recently, said an employee at the resort. Experiencing winter sports out of season has become a spring trend. The 80,000-square-meter facility's eight trails draw crowds once reserved for winter.

"Professional skiers from Japan, the Republic of Korea and Russia also use this as their summer training base," the employee said, adding that beginner-friendly slopes have made the sport more accessible.

With its abundant ice and snow resources, Heilongjiang has successfully cultivated well-known ice and snow tourism brands such as Harbin Ice and Snow World and Snow Town in recent years.

The market size of the ice and snow economy in Heilongjiang reached 266 billion yuan ($37 billion) last year, with ice and snow tourism accounting for 182 billion yuan, according to the provincial statistics bureau.

With 39 cultural and ice-snow projects being planned or under construction, Harbin is capitalizing on China's ambitious plan to develop its ice and snow economy as a new economic driver.

China aims to achieve a total market size of 1.2 trillion yuan for the ice and snow economy by 2027, with plans to reach 1.5 trillion yuan by 2030, according to a guideline released by the State Council last year.

"We're transforming winter's magic into a year-round phenomenon," said Wang Hongxin of Harbin's culture and tourism department. As Hu and Huang departed, their phones brimmed with icy selfies — proof that in Harbin, winter's enchantment never melts.

Xinhua