Snow, warm hearts boost Harbin tourism

Illustration:Chen Xia/GT

Known for its winter tourism, Harbin, the capital city of China's northeastern province of Heilongjiang, has witnessed a significant boom that has caused it to trend on social media this winter. 

The number of tourists to Harbin to enjoy ice and snow activities began to increase as 2023 drew to a close. By December 20, 2023, the city airport's annual passenger throughput had exceeded 20 million, making it the first airport in the Northeast region to break this benchmark in 2023. 

With the arrival of the New Year's holiday, Harbin's popularity soared to new heights. According to the bureau of culture, broadcasting, TV and tourism of Harbin, during the three-day New Year holiday, Harbin received 3.05 million tourists and made revenue of 5.91 billion yuan ($830 million), both of which reached record highs. 

Harbin spared no effort to show its sincerity to tourists. The city went all in by attending to every detail to provide tourists the best experience and memories possible. At Harbin Ice and Snow World, a renowned ice-and-snow theme park, a lot of brand new experiences have been provided, such as hovercrafts and bicycles on ice, Ferris wheels and hot air balloons. Upon arrival, tourists found themselves welcomed with live performances at the airport, and temporary dressing rooms lined up for tourists to slide into warm clothing.

Local residents also played a major role to help. They voluntarily traveled during off-peak hours to ease traffic, many private car owners also offered to give tourists free rides. Faced with the New Year's Eve boom, some tourists were unable to book hotels, so the local government opened the Provincial People's Congress Service Center for tourists to stay at a low price.

On social media platforms, the effusive praise from tourists and netizens who wished to travel to the city led local authorities to send an open letter to express its gratitude. 

"Your kind words have overwhelmed us, people in Heilongjiang, to such an extent that we are at a loss for words… We thank you for your heartfelt enthusiasm in visiting Heilongjiang… This winter, you brought joy and life to this land. It's so great to have you here."

Various topics related to Harbin have dominated the trending list across different social media platforms. Many of the tourists are from southern China, where it rarely snows. Many tourists from the south are petite compared to locals in Heilongjiang. Local people gave the southern tourists the affectionate nickname "southern small potatoes," which quickly went viral online. 

What happened next was local people drove around the city, asking tourists who appeared to be waiting in the cold for a cab, "Are you southern small potatoes? I can give you a ride for free." Local organizations and residents volunteered to give out hot ginger tea or heating pads at tourist spots to keep tourists warm. 

"It's all free. Take one. Welcome to our hometown."

Tourists then happily embraced the nickname on social platforms and shared their warm memory about the city. A guest left a note at the hotel, "This southern small potato is leaving. Harbin is so fun and beautiful. People are so hospitable. I look forward to seeing you again for next trip. Yours, southern small potato." After the note was shared online, "southern small potato is leaving" became a popular hashtag with more and more people sharing their journey.    

Many factors contributed to Harbin's winter tourism boom. As analysis pointed out, while the overall domestic tourist market in China has witnessed a resurgence, winter is usually the peak season for tourism in the Northeast. The momentum in domestic ice and snow tourism, fueled further by the Beijing Winter Olympics, has ignited the northeastern tourism market. 

However, that alone doesn't fully explain Harbin's current surge in popularity and reputation. Relevant departments and sectors have put in great effort to advance the tourism industry. As a signature tourist attraction, Harbin's Ice and Snow World this year is the largest it has ever been and was built and opened ahead of schedule to better suit tourist demand. In terms of creating a sound tourism market environment, local action has been more proactive. According to media reports, local authorities held a citywide winter ice and snow tourism "100-Day Action" meeting and provided training sessions to tourism professionals in the city.

Penguins wearing backpacks strolled down the street against the backdrop of snow and ice sculptures. Tourists dressed in fancy costumes of different styles posed for photos at the local Saint Sophia Cathedral with snow falling down from the night sky. At a restaurant, tourists tried to eat a local "frozen pear" for the first time. While locals usually eat the whole pear, the restaurant cut the pear into slices and placed them beautifully on a plate. All these moments were shared and reposted on social media by tourists.   

In the era of social media, these details and heartwarming moments were seen, shared by tourists and these details and moments mattered. 

The holiday tourism boom in Harbin might as well be what the domestic tourism market needs to kick off the New Year. Hopefully, such sincerity, hospitality and attention to detail can be seen across more cities.    

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. [email protected]