​Jilin seizes opportunities from Beijing 2022 to develop ice and snow economy

With the opportunities presented by the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Jilin is vigorously developing its ice and snow economy with multiple measures.

Prime ice and snow resources

With a long snow season bringing abundant and quality snow as well as favorable mountainous conditions, Jilin is now home to 54 ski resorts, which has a combined daily capacity of admitting 100,000 visitors, with 279 ski trails totaling 330.7 kilometers, according to Yang Andi, head of the Jilin Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics has ignited the enthusiasm of the Chinese public for ice and snow sports.

"I am very much encouraged by the gold medalists such as Gu Ailing, and decided to come here to ski with my family. Jilin has many ski resorts and the quality of snow is good, so many skiers including me like it here," said Lin Caiwei, a tourist from Fujian province, who was skiing at the Wanfeng Ski Resort.

As of February 6, the Vanke Songhua Lake Ski Resort has received 386,700 visitors with a revenue of 220 million yuan during the 2021-2022 snow season, and the Changbai Mountain International Resort received 170,300 visitors with a revenue of 203 million yuan. These stunning figures have reflected the recognition of tourists for the prime ice and snow resources of Jilin.

Colorful activities

During the 2021-2022 season, Jilin also put on offer a great variety of ice and snow activities to attract tourists.

During the 27th Jilin International Rime, Ice and Snow Festival, colorful activities were presented to tourists, including ones that had never been launched before.

During the 2021 "Winter of Changbai Mountain" Ice and Snow Tourism Season, 72 activities of five categories were organized, six major festivals and events were held, and 10 select tourist routes were launched, among other programs.

At the Ice and Snow New Land, a tourist attraction in Changchun city, the recordings of the spring festival galas of nine different places were played to tourists so that they would get to experience the ice and snow charm there.

In addition, the bustling scenes of ice and snow attractions in Jilin were livestreamed on CCTV platforms to show extensive public engagement in ice and snow tourism and sports just before the Winter Olympic Games.

The Aquatic Culture Eco Park in Changchun city held a light show to welcome the Winter Olympic Games. The old pictures of ice and snow sports exhibited there reminded visitors of such famous ice and snow sports athletes from Jilin who fought for China in international competitions such as Zhao Changwei, Li Jiajun and Wang Chunlu.

In addition, a number of online initiatives were launched to promote Jilin's popularity as a wonderful ice and snow tourism destination.

In December 2021, the Jilin Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism launched a hashtag challenge, "A Desirable Winter in Jilin" on short video platform Douyin. So far, over 1.5 million people took part in the challenge, and short videos published with the hashtag has received 5 billion views, 88 million likes and 11.5 million comments. The challenge has greatly promoted Jilin's ice and snow resources and culture online.

"The clean white rime in Jilin city, the fairytale Changchun Ice and Snow New Land, the wonderful drifting along a mineral river in Changbai Mountain… Jilin's winter is a feast to the eye," said a famous aero photographer. "Every single snapshot here satisfies me and my online account followers."

Moreover, during the sixth Jilin International Ice and Snow Industry Expo, the Jilin Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism launched two hashtag discussions,"the ski resorts I have been recommended" and "welcome the Winter Olympics at a ski resort" on Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform. In only half a day, posts under the discussions received 26.55 million views.

After the high-speed rail line between Dunhua city and Changbai Mountain opened to traffic, the Jilin Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism launched a "travel to Jilin on a high-speed train" hashtag discussion on Weibo, and famous new media accounts reported the first tourists arriving at Changbai Mountain on a high-speed train.

Tourism brands

Jilin is also building up its ice and snow tourism and culture brands through multiple ways.

The Jilin Ice and Culture Culture Week was launched in January 2022, under the theme of "Watch the Winter Olympics in Beijing, Experience Ice and Snow in Jilin." Twenty-six activities of ten categories were organized, including cultural performance, tourism promotion and exhibition.  

The Ice and Snow Culture also added a highlight to local Spring Festival celebration.

The Nanhu Lake in Changchun city held an exhibition of illuminated ice sculptures, attracting tourists from both inside and outside of Jilin.

"These ice sculptures are finely made, and together with the lights, they are more beautiful. Through them, I experienced the fun and charm of the ice and snow art," said Li Xia, a tourist from Shandong province.

The Changchun Auto Ice and Snow Carnival was another highlight this winter with four distinctive zones staging over 50 activities that integrated auto culture with ice and snow culture.

At the "Auto Ice and Snow Town" zone, ice sculptures of cars produced by China's auto maker FAW in different periods were on exhibition, attracting many tourists to pose for photo with them.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Jilin plans to establish a modern ice and snow system with ice and snow tourism, sports, culture and equipment at the core and also supported by a number of related industrial sectors including ice and snow technology, personnel, commerce and trade.

According to Jin Zhenlin, deputy head of the Jilin Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Jilin will work to restructure its ice and snow industry layout and build up its ice and snow brands with various measures.

In addition, Jin said, the province will vigorously develop ice and snow culture and integrate Jilin's distinctive culture with ice and snow elements in innovative ways.

"We will strive to promote Jilin's wonderful ice and snow resources in artistic, visual and international ways, with such efforts as art creation, building of a museum, opening of distinctive shops, and building IPs like 'Jilin's powder snow'," Jin said.