Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) — China's Harbin has been named "World's Outstanding Ice and Snow Tourism City" by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism).
The official ceremony by the UN Secretary-General for Tourism, recognizing Harbin as a leading and outstanding destination for ice and snow tourism, took place on Tuesday at the 11th World Tourism and Economic Forum – Heilongjiang 2025 in Harbin. Local media reported this.
Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China, is known as the "Ice City" due to its frigid winter climate and is a hotbed of modern winter sports in China. Topping the list of China's top 10 winter tourism cities for eight consecutive years, Harbin boasts a thriving "ice and snow economy" worth over 160 billion yuan (approximately $23 billion).
Moreover, Harbin has also been dubbed the "World Music City," the "International Wetland City," and the "City of Olympic Champions." It also boasts such city hallmarks as the "Capital of East Asian Culture," the "Capital of Western Cuisine in China," and the "Beer Capital of China."
In recent years, Harbin has made significant efforts to promote winter tourism, actively exploiting its ice and snow resources. Recently, a section of the Songhua River hosted the opening ceremony of the 6th Ice Festival, which harvests ice blocks intended, among other things, for use in creating sculptures at the iconic seasonal theme park, the "Great World of Ice and Snow," which opens to the public on December 17.
Furthermore, every winter, popular tourist events are held here, such as the International Snow Sculpture Art Fair on Taiyangdao Island, the Ice and Snow Marathon, and dragon boat races on ice. This winter, Harbin offers tourists 10 exclusive tourist routes and over 200 ice- and snow-themed sports, cultural, and entertainment events.
It's worth noting that Harbin is becoming increasingly popular among Russian tourists in winter. According to statistics, in the 2024-2025 winter season, Harbin welcomed 135 million tourists, of which approximately 6.3 percent were foreign tourists, a significant proportion of whom were from Russia. Industry experts predict that this winter, thanks to China's visa-free regime for Russian citizens, introduced in September, Harbin will see an even greater influx of Russian tourists.
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