The opening ceremony of the 13th China Arxan International Regimen Ice and Snow Festival was held in Arxan City, Hinggan League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on the evening of December 21.
As part of the Snow Festival, the city has developed 25 new tourism products, 15 related forums, eight supporting policies and four high-quality tourism routes for visitors.
Tourists can savor the winter fun by watching skiing competitions, snow soccer competitions, horse races, and motor races during the event, which will last until May 31, 2019. An ice engraving exhibition, photographic exhibition and a local product exhibition will also be held.
A bonfire at the opening ceremony of the 13th China Arxan International Regimen Ice and Snow Festival. /VCG Photo
During the ceremony, Gao Changsheng, Party secretary of Arxan municipal committee, delivered a speech in which he highlighted the efforts of Arxan in transforming its ice tourism resources into tangible economic benefits.
This year, Arxan is planning for a bumper winter tourist season, with new initiatives to promote its hot springs, ice and snow, hard rime, and forests.
In 2018, Arxan City received around 4 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 17 percent, with the total tourism revenue reaching 5.13 billion yuan (743 million U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 18 percent.
(Cover: An ice sculpture at the 13th China Arxan International Regimen Ice and Snow Festival /VCG Photo)