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?Top 10 classic winter activities in China

By Zhang Liying: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, January 17, 2021

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More and more people in China are taking part in winter activities as the country looks to boost winter sports, tourism and culture ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

On Jan. 5, the China Tourism Academy released a list of 10 classic winter activities during the "China Ice and Snow Tourism Forum." Here, we take a look at their top picks:

# "Mining" the first block of ice on "Daxue"

Workers and tourists pose around a block of ice taken from the Songhua River during the 2nd Ice Mining Festival held in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, Dec. 7, 2020. [Photo/VCG]

Place: Harbin, Heilongjiang province

Harbin, dubbed the Ice City in China, began holding an ice "mining" festival in 2019. The annual event kicks off on "Daxue" (Greater Snow), the 21st of the 24 solar terms, which falls between Dec. 6-8. During a ceremony, the first block of ice is pulled from the city's Songhua River, representing a folk custom of collecting ice that dates back more than 100 years.

Despite the extreme cold and biting wind, the first two festivals attracted locals and tourists alike who watched the ice blocks being removed and took part in various cultural events.

More than 100,000 cubic meters of ice is typically removed from the river during the festival. The blocks are then transported to the Harbin Ice-Snow World — the city's main winter tourist attraction — where they are carved into elaborate ice sculptures.