Snow, beaches vie for holiday travelers

Tourist destinations featuring snowy scenery or tropical landscapes are in a tight race to attract New Year's guests, travel agencies said.

Online travel agency Lvmama said in a report that going to northern provinces for hot springs and merry wintertime views, or visiting southern areas such as Guangdong and Hainan to celebrate on a sun-kissed beach, are increasingly popular options for a countdown to 2019.

Winter, and especially the year's end, used to be a slack season for tourism. However, reservations for packages on Christmas and the New Year's Day holiday have seen a year-on-year rise of 30 percent, with the last two days of the year expected to see a travel boom, according to Lvmama.