Heilongjiang's winter tourism booms despite annoying warmth

Photo taken on Feb 10, 2016 shows the rime scenery at Daxing farm in Jiansanjiang, northeast China's Heilongjiang province.[Photo/Xinhua]

"I would say the real one is a bit different from the one I saw on the Internet...but I like it anyway," said tourist Zhang Xinquan from south China's Guangdong province.

The sculptures melt faster when the temperature is above minus 4 degrees Celsius, Xie said, adding that technicians are restoring damaged sculptures and have removed nearly 30 others beyond repair.

"It is the first time we have encountered such 'disaster'. In previous years, they could survive through February," he said.

Other tourist destinations in Heilongjiang were also well received, despite rain and snow causing closure of highways leading to the sites.

Famed for farm-based tourism, "Snow Town," where snow falls for half a year and gets as deep as two meters, saw the number of visitors increase 90 percent year on year during the holiday. Yabuli ski resort saw a 60-percent increase in its tourist numbers.

Authorities in Heilongjiang are vigorously promoting winter tourism, a bright spot in the local economy, which has been slowed by sagging energy and heavy industries.

The province, along with Liaoning and Jilin, has been a traditional industrial base for decades. From January to September, Heilongjiang's economy expanded by 5.5 percent, ranking third from the bottom among China's provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. However, the province's tourism revenues grew by 35 percent during the first three quarters last year.