HARBIN, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) — Gliding down an over-500-meter-long ice slide, Zhang Jiajia felt like she was flying, and that her one-minute expertise had been definitely worth the hour-plus wait in line.
“It’s super exciting. My heart soared with me,” mentioned Zhang, a vacationer from east China’s Zhejiang Province, after making an attempt the Super Ice Slide on the iconic Harbin Ice-Snow World, which kicked off its annual run on Saturday.
The world’s largest ice-and-snow theme park, the twenty sixth version of the Harbin Ice-Snow World, formally opened at 10 a.m. in Harbin, the capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province often known as the “city of ice.”
Themed “Dream of Winter, Love among Asia,” the park was constructed utilizing 300,000 cubic meters of ice and snow, incorporating parts impressed by the upcoming 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games, which can open subsequent February, proper after China’s Spring Festival vacation. It can also be the primary main worldwide ice and snow occasion hosted by China for the reason that 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
With an total deliberate space of 1 million sq. meters, up from final 12 months’s 800,000 sq. meters, the park is the biggest in its 26-year historical past.
The park options 9 main zones, recreating landmark landscapes of 42 nations and three areas which might be members of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) within the type of ice-and-snow buildings that may be illuminated at night time, together with replicas of the Temple of Heaven in China, Osaka Castle in Japan and the Taj Mahal in India.
The predominant tower stands on the principle axis of the park, that includes towering ice columns that depict the official emblem of the OCA.
“The ice sculptures are incredibly exquisite. It’s hard to imagine that they are made of ice blocks harvested from the Songhua River. Each piece of artwork showcases the superb craftsmanship of the artists,” mentioned Zhong Xueying, one other vacationer from Zhejiang.
The hottest attraction within the park, the Super Ice Slide, has elevated the variety of its lanes to 24, with a 300-meter-long windproof heat home mounted on the queuing space, permitting guests to take a break from freezing climate whereas overlooking the park’s surroundings.
Saturday additionally marks the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the 12 months. The day not solely means one other photo voltaic time period but in addition marks an necessary festive day on Chinese lunar calendar.
Just one hour after the park opened, the queue for the Super Ice Slide stretched lots of of meters.
In addition to ice-and-snow landscapes, the park has added fantasy reveals, digital actuality tasks and an immersive digital artwork museum to its stock of winter wonders, providing new and thrilling experiences for each international and home guests.
The “Snow Disco” occasion, which attracted hundreds of vacationers final winter, will even be held on the Dream Stage within the park for this 12 months’s version.
“How lucky! Today is the last day of my trip to Harbin, and I didn’t expect to witness the opening of the Ice-Snow World. I’m so happy that it feels like I’m celebrating the Lunar New Year in advance,” mentioned Dai Xiaoqin, a vacationer from Wuhan City in Hubei Province.
“We wish to showcase the enthusiasm and confidence of the people in participating in ice-and-snow sports, and integrate a variety of new elements into this edition of the park,” mentioned Guo Hongwei, Party secretary and chairman of Harbin Ice-Snow World Co., Ltd.
An grownup park ticket is priced at 328 yuan (about 45.6 U.S. {dollars}). The park additionally provides discounted tickets and free admission to sure teams of holiday makers.
As a longtime ice-and-snow theme park, Harbin Ice-Snow World stands out as considered one of China’s iconic winter points of interest. It surged in recognition on Chinese social media final winter, changing into an web sensation as ardour for winter sports activities and tourism continues to rise throughout the nation.
Last 12 months, China recorded over 385 million winter leisure visits nationwide, a year-on-year improve of 38 %, with associated income up 50 %.
In Harbin alone, final snow season noticed over 87 million guests, up 300 % 12 months on 12 months, and 124.8 billion yuan in tourism income, up 500 %. The twenty fifth version of the Harbin Ice-Snow World, particularly, obtained over 2.7 million vacationers.
To speed up development of winter economic system within the nation’s northeastern area, the Chinese authorities has lately unveiled initiatives together with establishing devoted ice-and-snow holidays, rising flight routes and optimizing visa-free insurance policies, all aimed toward attracting extra home and worldwide guests.