Winter magic draws crowds to frosty frolics

URUMQI - Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region received around 2.1 million tourists during the recent three-day New Year's Day holiday, which started on Dec 30, 2018 - a year-on-year increase of 40.58 percent.

That's according to the regional department of culture and tourism, which said on Wednesday that the increasing numbers of tourists have brought nearly 1.69 billion yuan ($246 million) in tourism revenue to the region, a yearly increase of 46.86 percent.

Officials said that to attract tourists, the region will launch 196 winter tourism activities from November 2018 to March 2019.