World's largest ice-and-snow theme park opens on Winter Solstice in China's 'city of ice'

Saturday also marks the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. The day not only means another solar term but also marks an important festive day on Chinese lunar calendar.

Just one hour after the park opened, the queue for the Super Ice Slide stretched hundreds of meters.

In addition to ice-and-snow landscapes, the park has added fantasy shows, virtual reality projects and an immersive digital art museum to its inventory of winter wonders, offering new and exciting experiences for both global and domestic visitors.

The "Snow Disco" event, which attracted thousands of tourists last winter, will also be held at the Dream Stage in the park for this year's edition.

"How lucky! Today is the last day of my trip to Harbin, and I didn't expect to witness the opening of the Ice-Snow World. I'm so happy that it feels like I'm celebrating the Chinese New Year in advance," said Dai Xiaoqin, a tourist from Wuhan city in Hubei province.

"We wish to showcase the enthusiasm and confidence of the people in participating in ice-and-snow sports, and integrate a variety of new elements into this edition of the park," said Guo Hongwei, Party secretary and chairman of Harbin Ice-Snow World Co., Ltd.

An adult park ticket is priced at 328 yuan (about $45.6). The park also offers discounted tickets and free admission to certain groups of visitors.

As an established ice-and-snow theme park, Harbin Ice-Snow World stands out as one of China's iconic winter attractions. It surged in popularity on Chinese social media last winter, becoming an internet sensation as passion for winter sports and tourism continues to rise across the country.

Last year, China recorded over 385 million winter leisure visits nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 38 percent, with related revenue up 50 percent.

In Harbin alone, last snow season saw over 87 million visitors, up 300 percent year on year, and 124.8 billion yuan in tourism revenue, up 500 percent. The 25th edition of the Harbin Ice-Snow World, in particular, received over 2.7 million tourists.

To accelerate growth of winter economy in the country's northeastern region, the Chinese government has recently unveiled initiatives including establishing dedicated ice-and-snow holidays, increasing flight routes and optimizing visa-free policies, all aimed at attracting more domestic and international visitors.