On November 8, Meteorological Service Enpowering Ice and Snow Economic Development Research and Symposiumis held in Chongli, Hebei, China. In recent years, ice and snow sports, culture, tourism and other relevant industries have been rapidly emerging, andice and snow tourism has become the core of winter tourism and the ice and snow economy - in 2022 and 2023, China's two consecutive ice and snow seasons have more than 300 million tourists. Let's delve into the beauty of some China's snow and ice destinations.

Zhangjiakou, Hebei：

Zhangjiakou is one of the places for the 2022 BeijingWinter Olympics. It is blessed with unique climatic conditions, long and cold winters, abundant snowfall, excellent snow quality, and a snow storage period of up to 150 days, providing an excellent natural environment for skiing. It boasts the heritage of the Winter Olympics Genting Snow Park, powder snow paradise Wanlong Ski Resort, the top of Chongli Thaiwoo Ski Resort. Welcome to display your prowess.

Thaiwoo Ski Resortwas covered in silver Provided by WANG Xuhai

Altay, Xinjiang:

Altay is located at 40° N to 50°N, known as“Snow Capital of China". With frequent snowfall in winter, it has as many as 116 days for skiing, and boasts perfect powder snow quality.

Moreover, although it is cold in winter, Altay has sunny and breezy weather, with an average daily sunshine duration of more than 5 hours in winter, and an average wind speed of only 1.1 m/s, making it an ideal place for outdoor ice and snow sports as well as for traveling to enjoy the snow.

Jiangjun Hill-Ski Field. Source: Altay Regional Department of Culture, Sports, Radio, Television and Tourism

Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia：

Hulunbeier has a 9-month-long cold winter with an annual average temperature of -5℃ to 2℃. Various ice and snow events and activities are held here up to more than 120 times a year, with more than 100,000 participants in the past years. Tourists can also enjoy the ice sculptures in old town district to visit the temple fair, or go to the Yakeshi Phoenix Mountain Ski Resort to experience the pleasure of dancing with ice and snow.

The snowmobile was riding in the great snow plains of Hulunbeier. Source: Hulunbuir City Culture and Tourism Development Center

Harbin, Heilongjiang:

Harbin ice harvesting custom has been inherited for a hundred years, and every December is the best ice harvesting season of the Songhua River. Harbin Ice-Snow World is a kingdom with beautiful iceand snow landscapes, huge ice slide, snow observation wheel and wonderful show.

Harbin Ice-Snow World at night. Provided by ZHANG Xiaoqing

Jilin City, Jilin Province:

Jilin City, in winter has scenes from “Frozen”, with temperatures below -20℃ for more than 60 days. Surrounding the Songhua River in there, the surface of the river is bitterly cold but not frozen. And a large amount of fog on the river surface meets the cold air, it will be condensed in the form of frost on the branches of trees on both sides of the river to form a thickness of 40 to 60 mm of freezing fog.

A beautiful view of freezing fog Source: Jilin Provincial Meteorological Service

Liaoyang, Liaoning：

With daytime temperatures ranging from -15℃ to -5℃ in winter, Liaoyang is known as “Warm Ice and Warm Snow”, which is ideal for ice and snow sports as well as hot springs, providing a marvelous experience of “Ice and Fire”fortourists.

In Gongchangling Ski Resort, you can experience the dynamic excitement of alpine skiing and the relaxation of indoor hot springs. Source: Liaoyang Municipal Service of Culture, Tourism, Radio and Television

Editor: JIANG Zhiqing, HUANG Jingyi