2020-2021 snow season concludes in Jilin

Amid the rising temperature, the 2020-2021 snow season has just concluded in Jilin. Coming some one year before the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the season featured high-quality ice and snow tourism, the popularization of ice and snow sports and the display of ice and snow resources in various forms.

High-quality skiing facilities

"Jilin is a province with relatively developed ice and snow sports. It has quality ice and snow sports venues and high-level professionals. It is one of China's rare high-quality destinations for ice and snow sports," Yang Jinkui, general director of the Beijing 2022's Paralympic Games Department, said of Jilin's ice and snow sport resources when he, together with some other 40 people, including representatives of the Organizing Committee of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Beijing Winter Paralympics athletes and members of the Beijing Winter Olympics publicizing team, visited Jilin early March to experience and promote ice and snow sports and give ice and snow sports lectures in the province's Changchun and Jilin cities.

In recent years, Jilin has continued to promote the development of the ice and snow industry. For example, in September 2016, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Jilin Provincial Committee and the provincial government of Jilin issued a document entitled "Implementation Instructions on Making the Ice and Snow Industry Bigger and Stronger"; in November 2019, the general offices of the CPC Jilin Provincial Committee and the provincial government of Jilin released another document entitled "Implementation Instructions on Taking the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics as an Opportunity to Vigorously Develop Ice and Snow Sports and Ice and Snow Economy."

Supported by a series of policies and measures, Jilin's ice and snow industry has been continuously upgraded.

Now, the annual visitor numbers of Jilin's three major ski resorts - the Vanke Songhua Lake Resort, the Changbai Mountain International Resort, and the Jilin Beida Lake - steadily rank among the top in China. Other ski resorts such as the Changchun Miaoxiang Mountain Ski Resort, the Tianding Mountain Ski Resort, and the Luneng Ski Resorts are getting increasingly popular. The Beishan Four Seasons Cross-country Ski Resort in Jilin city has tourists coming in all year round.

"Quality skiing" has become a new label for ice and snow tourism in Jilin.

During the just-concluded snow season, the Vanke Songhua Lake Resort saw an endless stream of skiers. Recently, Yue Yue, founder of the Shanghai Spaders Club came to the resort for the closing ceremony of the 2020-2021 season along with more than 500 ski enthusiasts.

"Ice and snow sports in Jilin are diverse. Our club organizes members to come here every year," said Yue Yue, noting that there is direct transport from the airport to the ski resort.

The Beishan Four Seasons Cross-country Ski Resort in Jilin city has an international-level all-weather standard professional training ground for cross-country skiing. Converted from a large civil air defense facility, it has Asia's first "snow-cave ski trail" and is an important training ground for Chinese athletes preparing for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

"We used to train in the indoor 'snow cave' of this ski resort for a long time. It is a very good place for ice and snow sports training," said Peng Yuanyuan, the Chinese coach of the Chinese disabled cross-country skiing and biathlon team, adding that the atmosphere for ice and snow sports in Jilin is very good.

The Changchun Tianding Mountain Ski Resort is primarily for skiing experience. In the past snow season, the ski resort received nearly 150,000 ski enthusiasts.

Popularizing ice and snow sports

To encourage and mobilize more people to participate in ice and snow sports and to fully release the consumption potential of the ice and snow market, since October 2020, the Jilin Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism has launched a series of activities to increase the supply of ice and snow tourism products, improve ice and snow tourism services, and strengthen the promotion of ice and snow resources.

For example, it held an event in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Liaoning to promote high-speed train tours to Jilin; it also held promotional events in the Yangtze River and Pearl River deltas; it launched the "Enjoying Snow in Jilin" premium tourism products which include weekend tours, in-depth tours and self-driving tours; it issued ice and snow consumption coupons worth more than 10 million yuan, and coordinated various localities and ice and snow businesses to offer reduced or free tickets or discounted prices; it launched the"Jilin Winter Travel Notes" electronic map to offer one-stop services for consumption and information inquiry on premium routes, online popular products and travel tips.

In addition, the Jilin Provincial Federation of Trade Unions arranged a special fund of 10 million yuan to guide more employees to experience and become interested in ice and snow sports. Driven by ice and snow tourism and a series of supportive measures, ice and snow sports in Jilin are becoming increasingly popular.

At the same time, ice and snow activities such as the 7th National Public Ice and Snow Season, the 19th Vasaloppet China, the Changbai Mountain Ski Orientation Challenge, and the Northeast Asia (China · Yanbian) Ice and Snow Car Rally mushroomed across Jilin. While meeting the people's diverse fitness needs in the winter, the activities have effectively popularized ice and snow sports.

"Ice and snow sports can build up our body. Our family go skiing together quiet often," said Ms. Liu, a citizen of Changchun.

In the past snow season, Jilin also launched the Second National Campus Ice and Snow Sports Competition and the theme day event of "Millions of Students on Ice and Snow" in Changchun city among other activities to promote ice and snow sports on campus.

After listening to a lecture by by Liu Yukun, a member of the Beijing Winter Olympics publicizing team and a Paralympic champion, Yue Yunfeng, a sixth-grade student of the Jilin No.2 Experimental Primary School, said, "We have actively signed up for various ice and snow sports activities organized by the school. Now after listening to the stories told by the Olympic champion and learning about the Winter Olympics culture, I have become more passionate about ice and snow sports."

Promoting ice and snow culture

In the past snow season, the cultural and tourism community of Jilin province planned various festivals, painting exhibitions and ice sculpture exhibitions to display ice and snow resources and spread ice and snow culture in multiple ways.

During the 3rd Changbai Mountain Powder Snow Festival, the Changbai Mountain Ice and Snow Food Festival, the Changbai Mountain Winter Rime Drifting Season, the Changbai Mountain Snowy Forest Hiking, and the"Lehuo Ice and Snow Town Experience" activities are widely welcomed by tourists.

Exhibition activities such as the Fifth Jilin Snow Expo, the Exhibition of Jilin Provincial Museum-collected Ice and Snow-themed Painting and Calligraphy Works, the First Changchun City Exhibition of Ice and Snow-themed Painting Works by College Students, and the Jilin City International Ice and Snow Photography Exhibition have fully demonstrated the beauty of Jilin's ice and snow.

The themed ice and snow sculpture exhibitions of China FAW Hongqi H9 car, Fuxing high-speed rail, Jilin-1 Satellite, and Changchun International Film Capital Golden Film in Changchun Ice and Snow Xintiandi show the characteristics of Jilin's ice and snow culture.

The Changchun World Sculpture Park, featuring ice and snow sculptures and a colorful light show to present the charm of ice and snow art, has become a popular spot in the snow season in Jilin.

The First Changchun City Exhibition of Ice and Snow-themed Painting Works by College Students held here enhanced the awareness of the ice and snow culture among young people.

"Through the exhibition, I came to know the characteristics of ice and snow tourism in various parts of Jilin. I didn't expect Jilin to have such a wealth of ice and snow resources. I hope that there will be more such activities in the future." said Li Li, a student from Changchun University.