From towering ice slides to intricately carved snow sculptures, China’s winter wonderlands are drawing record crowds, fueling a rapidly expanding ice and snow economy. Attractions such as Harbin Ice-Snow World are no longer just tourist destinations—they have become engines of economic growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
A report released earlier this week by the China Tourism Academy (CTA) shows that China’s ice and snow tourism sector is entering “a new stage of sustained prosperity.” By the end of 2025, more than 14,000 enterprises were operating in this sector, marking an 11 percent increase from the previous year. The total scale of the industry exceeded 1 trillion yuan (roughly $143 billion), nearly four times larger than a decade ago, when it was valued at 270 billion yuan.
The findings were unveiled at the Ice and Snow Tourism Development Forum 2026 in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, northeast China. The report credited the surge to innovative tourism offerings, including ice sculpting, themed travel experiences, and winter photography. Iconic sites like Harbin Ice-Snow World and Changbai Mountain ski resort have been instrumental in driving both domestic and international interest.
Han Yuanjun, a CTA researcher, highlighted that northern cities with rich ice and snow resources—such as Harbin, Shenyang, Changchun, and Zhangjiakou—are shifting their tourism strategies. Instead of focusing solely on attracting visitors, they are prioritizing visitor retention through enhanced services and amenities.
Heilongjiang, traditionally an industrial region, has turned its long, harsh winters into an economic advantage. The province has actively cultivated hospitality for tourists, offering local specialties such as frozen pears and installing heated handrails along shopping streets. These small touches have proven highly effective, generating social media buzz and steadily increasing visitor numbers.
Major events have further accelerated the region’s growth. Last year’s Asian Winter Games prompted substantial infrastructure upgrades in Harbin, including digitalized sports venues, expanded airports and road networks, and automated snowmaking technology at ski resorts. The city also boosted international accessibility with direct flights, simplified visa services, and foreign card-friendly payment options, resulting in a 157 percent surge in inbound bookings.
Looking ahead, Heilongjiang is taking a data-driven approach to growth. The province has launched China’s first monitoring system to track four sectors of the ice and snow economy—tourism, sports, culture, and equipment manufacturing—aiming to guide targeted policy and investment decisions. The 2024–2025 winter season saw 135 million visits to the province, generating 211.7 billion yuan in tourism revenue, increases of 18.5 percent and 30.7 percent year-on-year, respectively.
Harbin’s appeal is also drawing international attention. On January 6, the city hosted a world mayoral dialogue on ice and snow economy development. Foreign delegates praised Harbin’s ability to transform extreme cold into economic opportunity. Andrew Knack, mayor of Edmonton, Canada, called his visit “one of the most spectacular experiences of my life” and lauded the city’s sustainable approach to winter tourism.
The broader national landscape has also shifted since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which ignited public interest in winter sports and related consumption. Ice and snow tourism is no longer confined to the far northeast. Northern regions such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, as well as western high-altitude destinations like Xinjiang and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, are now attracting winter visitors.
Even central and southern China, with milder climates, is investing heavily in indoor ice and snow complexes. Total investment in such projects reached nearly 54 billion yuan in 2025, with 43.7 billion yuan deployed in large-scale facilities alone—nine of the world’s ten largest indoor snow parks are now in China.
Tang Xiaoyun, vice president of the CTA, noted that the growth of ice and snow tourism has fostered a full industry chain encompassing culture, sports, and equipment manufacturing. Rising demand has spurred rapid domestic production of winter sports gear, from ski equipment in Yiwu to goggles in Ningbo, supplying both national and international markets.
China’s winter economy is clearly snowballing—turning subzero temperatures into sizzling economic potential and transforming once quiet northern provinces into global winter tourism hubs.