Chao News client reporter Zeng Yangxi
The rime and ski slopes of Jilin Vanke Songhua Lake Ski Resort The picture comes from Jilin.com, China
Skiing, hot springs, and rime viewing...... In the past two years, going to the Northeast to find a winter limited happiness has become the first choice for many tourists across the country.
From 5,000 workers taking 15 days to build Changchun Ice and Snow Xintiandi, to Beidahu Ski Resort providing free ski tickets for college students across the country, to "Southern Little Potato" bravely entering major scenic spots on the hot search...... All of them show the vigorous trend of the ice and snow industry in Northeast China.
What kind of experience is it to travel in the icy and snowy Northeast China? Why does the Northeast Ice and Snow Tour attract so many tourists? What kind of experience can be gained from the Northeast when many places across the country enter the ice and snow tourism track? Recently, Chao News reporters followed the "Jilin Snow Exploration Tour, a well-known domestic government affairs media" sponsored by the Propaganda Department of the Jilin Provincial Party Committee and the Information Office of the Jilin Provincial Government, to go deep into Changbai Mountain and other places to explore the deep meaning behind the ice and snow tourism boom.
Ice and snow tourism in Northeast China continues to heat up
The moment I arrived in the Northeast, the air changed from cold and humid in the south of the Yangtze River to clear and dry. In front of you, the fertile fields are thousands of miles, covered in silver, and a completely different scenery from the south is spreading.
This winter, the Northeast ice and snow tour is really hot. In December, Miss Mi, who lives in Shanghai, took her family north. After they arrived at Jilin Changbaishan Airport, they walked out of the terminal and got on the free bus to the snow resort hotel. Skiing in Jilin has become a must-have trip for her and her family every year for the past three years, with an average cost of about 20,000 yuan per trip.
"On the one hand, the charm of skiing is that the sports environment itself is a landscape, and in the ski resort I often visit, there are several ski slopes that can directly overlook the main peak of Changbai, and the scenery is beautiful. On the other hand, skiing often requires a slow progression from the beginner course to the advanced course, and in the process, you can directly experience the improvement of courage, physical fitness, and skills, which makes people feel very fulfilling. Miss Mi said.
Jilin Province is located in the world's golden ski belt at 41 degrees north latitude, and Changbai Mountain is one of the world's three major powder ski resorts along with the Alps and the Rocky Mountains. Powder snow refers to snow like flour, soft and dry. For skiers, powder snow is synonymous with attraction, with a unique sound and a less painful fall than on regular snow and ice.
Beidahu Ski Resort, where ski enthusiasts practice Xi on the slopes. The picture comes from Jilin.com, China
In November, the new snow season in Jilin Province kicked off and will last until March of the following year. With the advantage of powder snow, many skiers gather here.
In Jilin City, Jilin Province, Beidahu Ski Resort is the largest single ski resort in Asia. During the interview, the reporter met Xiao Xu from Guangdong, who is a senior skier. This time, I came to Beidahu with four friends, and I have been staying for more than half a month, galloping on the snow field almost every day.
A team leader who led a group trip also told reporters that in December this year, she took a team of more than 30 people to Jilin Province to experience ice and snow tours, and booked a hotel in Beidahu Ski Resort two months in advance, and the room was already very tight. "If the departure date is close to the date of departure, the group of so many people will not be able to book a room at all. ”
The lively scene in Jilin is the epitome of the "ice and snow fever" in Northeast China. The "small potatoes in the south" that go to the northeast to see the snow are all over the Internet, and the Harbin baths are chartered by tourists from the south, and the beautiful ice waterfall is checked in in Liaoning...... In the past year, the "ice and snow fever" in Northeast China has continued to heat up, and more and more ordinary people have fallen in love with snow travel.
Rafting in the Dew River International Hunting Resort at the foot of Changbai Mountain Photo by reporter Zeng Yangxi
"In the Northeast, you can live a warm and full winter. What you see is not the scenery, but the wonder and greatness of nature. During the interview, Mr. Li, a tourist, told reporters that the experience of ice and snow tourism in the Northeast is rich and diverse, in addition to skiing, you can also watch the snow scene, enjoy the rime, soak in the hot springs, rafting, play in the ice and snow world, and experience the winter that is completely different from the south.
Taking Jilin City, the second largest city in Jilin Province, which has a number of well-known ski resorts, as an example, public data shows that in the fourth quarter of this year, Jilin City is expected to receive 20.8074 million domestic tourists, a year-on-year increase of 579.76% over 2022 and a year-on-year increase of 28.97% over 2019.
Talking about the rising tide of ice and snow tourism, Liu Huaxiang, a researcher of ice and snow tourism and a postdoctoral fellow at the China Tourism Academy, believes that the successful hosting of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has ignited the enthusiasm of Chinese people for ice and snow. At the same time, the state has successively introduced a series of promotion policies, which have stimulated the huge consumer demand in the ice and snow market. In addition, the Northeast is rich in ice and snow resources, the supply of tourism products is rich and diverse, and the combination of supply and demand makes the ice and snow tourism in the Northeast continue to heat up.
Play the ice and snow economic concerto
Milk, wine, medicated baths...... Several hot spring pools are filled with steam, and the surrounding buildings, trees, and ground are covered in white snow and ice, making it a unique backdrop. Many tourists soaked in the pool in swimsuits, the body in the pool was warm, but the hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes were condensed with white ice, and some took out their cameras to take pictures.
This is a scene that the reporter saw in a hot spring resort hotel under Changbai Mountain.
A hotel staff who is engaged in guiding work in the outdoor hot spring pool area told reporters that since November this year, many tourists have come to experience the "ice and fire", and the hotel is often full.
In order to seize the opportunity of "ice and snow fever", in Northeast China, from the government to the private sector, they are all riveting to turn "cold resources" into "hot industries".
Beidahu Ski Resort Snow Resort Photo by reporter Zeng Yangxi
This year, Beidahu Ski Resort has put into operation 64 ski trails with a total length of 72 kilometers and a total area of 240 hectares, and 4 night ski trails have been opened. "In the past, I often went to ski abroad in winter, but now we have a good construction of domestic ski resorts, which have hotels, hot springs, restaurants, and shopping centers, and the supporting facilities are very perfect, and the experience of skiing here is no worse than that of foreign countries. At the ski resort of Beidahu, ski enthusiast Zhang Cheng told reporters.
Changchun Ice and Snow Xintiandi data map The picture comes from Jilin.com, China
In Changchun Ice and Snow World, the newly launched 1,260-meter-long "Aerial Snow Rafting" project this year is very popular with tourists. "It's so exciting and fun to get on a tire modified car, gallop down the river, and continue to feel a slight sense of weightlessness in the ice and snow. A tourist who had just come down from the drifting slope told reporters.
The three northeastern provinces are geographically connected, with similar resources and similar cultures. With the advantage of world-class powder snow, Jilin Province will focus on ice and snow tourism, and this year, with the theme of "Winter of Changbai Mountain" ice and snow tourism season, Jilin Province has launched a number of special ice and snow products around the "ice and snow +" innovation.
Not only that, Jilin Province has also set the goal of developing a trillion-level tourism industry. In October this year, the "Action Plan for Tackling the Tourism Trillion-level Industry in Jilin Province (2023-2025)" was released, proposing to strive to achieve the goal of achieving a trillion-level tourism industry within 5 years. Among them, the scale of Jilin's ice and snow industry cluster has reached 500 billion yuan.
Beautiful Changbai Mountain Tianchi Picture from Jilin release
In the north of Jilin Province, Heilongjiang Province began to go to 10 cities including Wuhan, Changsha and Hangzhou to hold ice and snow tourism promotion conferences as early as the end of October this year.
At the same time, the development of the ice and snow sports industry has become one of the key points of Heilongjiang to build a modern ice and snow economic system, and the "Heilongjiang Ice and Snow Economic Development Plan (2022-2030)" proposes that by 2030, the ice and snow sports industry will lead the country, and the total output value will reach the development goal of 10 billion yuan.
For Liaoning Province, the southernmost part of the Northeast, although the ice and snow season here is not long enough, it has also played a signboard of "warm snow and warm ice", and at the same time, ice and snow equipment manufacturing is also a key cultivation industry to build an ice and snow economy. In October this year, Liaoning was also approved to host the 15th National Winter Games in 2028.
Liu Huaxiang said that at this stage, the three provinces have different characteristics in ice and snow. For example, Heilongjiang Province has abundant ornamental ice and snow tourism resources, a long history, and the emphasis is on ornamentation. Jilin Province has a number of large-scale ski resorts with complete facilities, which focus on experience and are very attractive to young people. Liaoning has manufacturing advantages and a good foundation for ice and snow equipment manufacturing.
Looking at the whole country, the Northeast, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Xinjiang are the "leaders" of the national ice and snow economy, and with the advantages of natural resources and infrastructure, the Northeast is the most senior one. There is a view that for the Northeast, from the perspective of regional development, in addition to the beauty of each other, it is also necessary to consider the coordinated development of ice and snow tourism.
In terms of top-level design at the national level, in March 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the "Northeast Tourism Development Plan", which proposed to build an ice and snow tourism belt in Northeast China, and required Heijiliao and Inner Mongolia to jointly establish a special working mechanism for tourism development in Northeast China.
Liu Huaxiang believes that under the opportunity of the ice and snow economy, the three provinces should show their strengths, and should consider collaborative interaction and differentiated marketing at the same time, so as to play a good concerto of ice and snow economy.
Let the "ice and snow fever" continue to release kinetic energy
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Outside the window, it was icy and snowy, but the room was warm, and a movie was playing on the projection in the "living room", and several residents were resting on the sofa.
In Beidahu Town, Yongji County, Jilin City, Guilei is a homestay with 13 rooms. Here, guests can make an appointment to learn Xi skiing, there is a special free shuttle bus to and from the ski resort, and they can also watch the snow make tea and party for a break. Chang Jialin, the owner of the homestay, said.
Chang Jialin, from Changchun, has a daughter who just turned 16 this year and is a skier. In the past, she often accompanied her daughter to various ski resorts for training and competitions. By chance, she came to Beidahu Town and had the idea of opening a homestay, "not only to accompany her daughter to train more, but also to provide a place for tourists who come to ski nearby." Chang Jialin said that after the B&B opened at the end of 2021, it was very popular with young people, and the turnover has exceeded 400,000 yuan since the beginning of the snow season last year.
Courtesy of the interviewee inside the homestay
Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and for the Northeast, ice and snow are also invaluable assets - ice and snow pave a path to common prosperity for the town.
"Up to now, a total of 169 homestays have been developed in Beidahu Town, which has formed a cluster effect. With more tourists, the surrounding businesses have also prospered, and urban businesses such as restaurants and cafes have sprung up in the town, driving local residents to increase their income. The relevant person in charge of the Propaganda Department of Beidahu Town said.
For a period of time, the three northeastern provinces have faced common problems such as insufficient economic development momentum. The development of ice and snow economy has become one of the important opportunities given by the times to the revitalization of Northeast China.
On September 28, 2018, at the symposium on in-depth promotion of the revitalization of Northeast China, it was proposed to make full use of the unique resources and advantages of the Northeast region to accelerate the development of the ice and snow economy in cold regions. On September 7 this year, at the symposium on promoting the comprehensive revitalization of Northeast China in the new era, the development of ice and snow economy was once again proposed.
The successful holding of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has ignited the enthusiasm of the national public for ice and snow. Jilin Province has even carried out various activities with the theme of "Winter Olympics in Beijing, Experience in Jilin".
Facing the future, how to let the "ice and snow fever" continue to release kinetic energy and promote the construction of common prosperity is one of the issues that need to be considered in Northeast China. Liu Huaxiang believes that for the Northeast, the development of ice and snow projects, especially large-scale ski resorts, requires a certain period of time and huge costs, and relevant departments can start to provide more support in terms of improving infrastructure and creating a better business environment.
Across the country, the ice and snow boom has long transcended geographical boundaries. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, since the successful bid for the Beijing Winter Olympics, the number of participants in ice and snow sports has exceeded 300 million. Under the ice and snow development strategy of "expanding from the south to the west and expanding to the east", many provinces have kept up with the pace and developed the ice and snow economy on the track of ice and snow tourism.
In the southwest, as early as the end of 2022, Sichuan Province issued the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Ice and Snow Sports" to build a new pattern of ice and snow sports development in Sichuan.
Zhejiang Yunshang Grassland Ski Resort data map The picture comes from the official WeChat public account of Anji Yunshang Grassland
In the southern region, public data shows that in the 2022-2023 snow season, the number of people participating in ice and snow sports in Zhejiang will reach 1.6899 million, a year-on-year increase of 17.77%, and the total output will reach 473 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25.80%. The number and scale of ice and snow sports venues and the number of people participating in sports in Zhejiang are among the top in the southern provinces. At present, there are 24 ice and snow sports venues and 18 ski resorts in Zhejiang.
"Ice and snow tourism can be used as an effective starting point for rural revitalization. In order to create a high-quality ice and snow tourism destination, it is necessary to start from both management and service. Whether in the south or in the north, the government, enterprises, and practitioners should form a joint force to innovate tourism product formats, enrich the supply of high-quality tourism, and improve service quality, so as to promote the high-quality development of the tourism industry and promote the construction of local common prosperity. Liu Huaxiang said.
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