Snow, ice tourism to be pillar industry

Updated: 2017-03-14
By: Chen Meiling(China Daily)

Wide range of activities

Songhua River, which does not freeze in winter, also draws athletes from home and abroad to compete in dragon-boat races during the annual Tree Frost, Ice and Snow Festival held in the city of Jilin in Jilin province from December to February.

In December 2016, about 300 players from Russia, Belarus, Beijing, Macao, Fujian province and Jilin attended the event.

Xiao Canrong, 64, participated in the competition with 22 team members from Macao.

"Frozen and snow-covered Jilin has a unique beauty, which is very different from Macao. It is the only place to hold dragon boat racing in winter," said Xiao. "I love this sport. It's the second time for me to come here."

Snow, ice tourism to be pillar industry
Tourists play with snow in Laolike Lake scenic area in Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture. [An Zhenli / For China Daily]

Nafalia Zaitseve from Russia accompanied her husband to attend the race with their 3-year-old daughter.

"Jilin is warmer than Russia. It's very beautiful here," she said.

During the three-month event, more than one hundred sports events and cultural activities were organized, including lion dances, dragon boat racing, ice and snow cultural forums, exhibitions of local specialties and freestyle skiing competitions.

The first China Jilin International Ice and Snow Tourism Industry Expo, which just closed in December 2016, saw the signing of contracts worth 180 million yuan and total transactions worth 220 million yuan, Cao Guangbin, an official of the Changchun city tourism administration, said at a news conference on Dec 13.

During the four-day event, 183 exhibitors displayed their ice- and snow-related products, from 15 countries and regions including the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy and Russia, Cao said.

The exhibits included snow-making machines, snow ploughs, snow mobiles and ski goggles. Organizers also held activities such as curling matches, snowboarding performances and indoor simulative skiing.

Snow, ice tourism to be pillar industry

Tourists ski at the Wasa Skiing Festival in Changchun. Jilin province is developing its ice and snow tourism facilities.[Photo provided to China Daily]

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