China CCTV Spring Festival Gala Promotes Tourism in Harbin

The Spring Festival gala show broadcast by China Central Television has helped promote Harbin's ice and snow tourism during the Spring Festival holiday period (Jan 27 - Feb 2), according to Harbin's tourism department.

As one of the four cities selected to co-host the annual CCTV gala, Harbin presented its most spectacular and impressive ice and snow scenery at the Ice and Snow World, to audiences across the country.

Harbin’s tourism revenues reached 2.16 billion yuan ($314 million) during the Spring Festival period, according to statistics.

Harbin received a total of 911,000 tourists during this year's Spring Festival holiday, an increase of 13.8 percent compared with the same period last year.

Harbin's tourism revenues and the number of tourists received in Harbin this year have both reached record highs.

During the Spring Festival holiday period, the Harbin Ice and Snow World received more than 240,000 tourists, an increase of 20 percent compared with the same period last year.

On the fourth day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the Harbin Ice and Snow World received more than 55,000 tourists. Meanwhile, total ticket revenues from Jan 27 to Feb 2 hit 65 million yuan at the attraction, an increase of 11 million yuan compared with the same period last year.

Harbin Ice and Snow World has received a much larger number of tourists and earned more tourism revenue than in previous years.

"I saw the beautiful ice and snow scenery on the CCTV Spring Festival gala show, and now I feel very excited to see the authentic ice and snow sculptures in Harbin," said Liu, a tourist from Shanghai.

Liu travelled to Harbin together with his family to spend the holiday in the city.

"The ice and snow carvers have such brilliant carving techniques," Liu added.

Yabuli, a snow scenic spot in Shangzhi county, Harbin, received 71,000 tourists from Jan 27 to Feb 2, and most of them were from Guangdong, Fujian, Shanghai and Sichuan.

Yabuli has one of the biggest ski fields in China, boasting the largest amount of ski equipment. However, at one skiing resort in Yabuli, at times there is not enough equipment to meet demand.

"It's interesting to go skiing here, and I feel excited, but there are not enough ski instructors," said Zhou, a tourist from Guangzhou.

"We have 1,200 ski instructors in the entire scenic spot, but the number of tourists is too big for us to provide for them all," explained a staff member working in Yabuli.

Tourists in front of the Ice Temple of Heaven at Harbin Ice and Snow World, which was part of the CCTV Spring Festival gala show broadcast on Jan 27, 2017.