Tourism booms for China’s ice sculpture city Harbin in post-Covid revival
- Visitors have been arriving in record numbers for this year’s festival, with social media posts driving increasing interest
- Tourism made up a third of Harbin’s GDP before the pandemic and the city is working to win back domestic and overseas travellers
This year’s Ice and Snow World – spread over 80 hectares (200 acres) – is the city’s largest, and also claims the title of the biggest theme park of its kind on Earth.
Harbin, in Heilongjiang province, caught Li’s attention when his social media feed filled with reports of an angry crowd shouting for refunds as they stood in a long queue on the first day of the festival.
The 25-year-old’s sympathies were not with the disappointed visitors. “Their demand wasn’t very reasonable, but Harbin still satisfied their requests, so everyone [online] thought Harbin handled it very well and started to pay attention to Harbin,” he said.
Li and his friends spent three days in the city last month, keen to see the festival that had been trending for weeks, as well as Harbin’s other tourist attractions which have been lighting up social media platforms in China.
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Frosty photoshoots, icy sports and winter festivals in China’s ‘ice city’ Harbin
The seven young adults walked along the busy cobblestones of Central Street and took pictures in front of the Russian-style orthodox Saint Sophia Cathedral as they followed the top recommendations on Xiaohongshu, China’s equivalent of Instagram.
