Winter provides cold comfort

With the opening of Harbin Ice-Snow World on Dec 21, hotel bookings from Dec 21 to Jan 19 are 2.4 times that of the same preceding period, domestic travel agency Qunar reported.

Based on the platform's flight booking data, most travelers heading to Harbin are from the south, including Shenzhen and Guangzhou in Guangdong province, Shanghai, Chengdu in Sichuan province, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, and Sanya in Hainan province.

New and improved offerings are available as winter tourism gathers momentum.

Harbin Ice-Snow World, which combines winter fun with sound and light shows, has expanded from 810,000 square meters to 1 million sq m this year.

The park's design and construction integrates elements of the 9th Asian Winter Games, which is set to open in Harbin in February, according to Luo Xin, deputy general manager of the winter fun park. He says that a series of activities will enliven the visitor experience, including an ice harvesting festival, a new fantasy show, outdoor performances, and ice carving competitions.

Technology is also being put to use in the park. At an artificial intelligence digital culture and art pavilion, visitors can explore the microcosmic world of ice crystals and snowflakes, and appreciate their beauty in a variety of ways.

Additionally, visitors can try their hand at activities such as building snowmen, curling, solving lantern riddles, and making dumplings.

At a virtual reality facility within walking distance of the pavilion, visitors can don headsets and journey back 2 billion years to a frozen world.

"We use location-based mixed augmented reality technology to transport visitors from the physical world to a virtual digital space. During the experience, we employ integrated VR, acoustic matrices, motion capture, scene positioning, dynamic equipment, and tactile simulation technologies to create a full-sensory experience," says Li Xuan, one of those in charge of the facility. "Visitors will be able to experience 30 physical sensations, including the feel of water, wind, snow and heat."

The authorities in Heilongjiang plan to ride the wave of the Asian Winter Games and have created special tours for the event, and devised recreational activities to invigorate the winter economy, according to Qi Bin, deputy director of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Heilongjiang Province.

Hotels and ski resorts have been improved and a number of new hotels have opened, Qi says, adding that Harbin has improved communications for international tourists by arranging for taxi and bus drivers to receive training and brush up on their English skills.