Tourists visit the Harbin Ice-Snow World, the world's largest ice-and-snow theme park, in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Dec. 21, 2024. (Photo provided to China News Service)

The 26th Harbin Ice and Snow World opened to tourists from the world at 10 a.m. on Saturday, attracting thousands of visitors who began queuing as early as 3 a.m. Tickets for the opening day sold out across multiple travel platforms, including the park's official website, highlighting the high anticipation for the ice and snow event.

The park spans 1 million square meters and was built with 300,000 cubic meters of ice and snow. This year's theme, "Dream of Winter, Love among Asia," integrates elements from the 2025 Asian Winter Games to create a captivating ice and snow wonderland.

Tourism activity surrounding winter destinations is thriving across China. Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province's Harbin continues to dominate as the top destination for winter tourism, with other regions such as northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northeast China's Jilin and Liaoning provinces also seeing a surge in popularity. Data from Ctrip, one of China's largest online travel agencies, sent to Global Times on Saturday, indicates a consistent increase in searches for winter tourism products since early December, with Harbin leading in search volume.

Another Chinese online travel platform, Qunar, recorded a 30 percent year-on-year growth in bookings for ice and snow-related attractions since November. Hotel bookings in Harbin have surged by over 50 percent from the same period last year.

In addition, ski-related tourism products have seen a notable rise in popularity. Ctrip’s data reveals a significant rise in pre-sale bookings for ski hotels in major ski resorts in North China, with some core ski areas seeing a 224 percent year-on-year increase in bookings. Searches for 'skiing' have increased by 50 percent compared to the previous week.

The enthusiasm for skiing has grown substantially since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which has driven a significant increase in visitor numbers at ski resorts, according to Li Jiaxi, a manager of the Silk Road Mountain Resort in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Across China, regions are leveraging their “cold resources” to stimulate consumer interest. Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia have seen a sharp rise in winter tourism. In November, ski ticket bookings in Urumqi and Fuyun county more than doubled compared to last year. North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has also seen a 223 percent increase in charter tour bookings compared to the same period last year.