Cold comforts heating Heilongjiang's economy

HARBIN - "In the past, snow was a disaster for me," said Fan Zhaoyi, looking out the window of his home in northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

Outside is a famous tourist attraction－Xuexiang, which means Snow Town in Chinese－but few people know its other name, Shuangfeng Forest Farm. More than 20 years ago, Fan worked on the farm transporting wood－a task often made more arduous by the area's heavy snowfall.

"The snow was more than a meter deep, and people could only walk out a small path in the middle of the snow, and the dogs could not be found if they jumped into it," said Fan, who also recalled how the snow would sometimes block the door of his house.

"At that time, I just hoped there would be less snow, so that it would be easier to carry wood," he added.

Shuangfeng Forest Farm, located in the Zhangguangcai mountains, can receive up to 180 days of snow every year, with an average annual depth of 2.6 meters.

Back in 1995, university teacher Wang Cheng stepped onto the mountains with second-hand skis from abroad.

"This is a natural ski resort!" Wang declared, looking around the forest and snow plain in front of him.

The area where Wang skied down all those years ago is now Yabuli Ski Resort, located around 220 kilometers southeast of Harbin.

In the 1990s, skiing was a sport enjoyed by just a select group of Chinese people.

Now, as the country stages more and more international winter sports events, an increasing number of Chinese are finding that snow is a blessing not a burden.

New resorts, hotels and guesthouses continue to proliferate at Yabuli, as the area becomes an increasingly popular destination for skiers and snowboarders.

Wang is 71 years old now, and skies at Yabuli every week. His skis are stored at the resort, and he hits the slopes from dawn to dusk, when the cable car closes.

"The number of tourists in a single day can reach nearly 10,000 at the peak time," said Xue Dongyang, general manager of Yabuli Sunshine Resort.

The booming business has brought more employment opportunities for locals. When winter arrives, 34-year-old Xu Yanbin is kept busy as a ski coach.

"I was a farmer and didn't have much work outside farming in the past. Skiing is a skill I learned when I was a kid, and I never expected it to become my profession," Xu said.

With the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games beginning their one-year countdown this week, participation in ice and snow sports is on the rise all over China.

Local promotional initiatives, such as "Heilongjiang Province National Ice and Snow Activity Day",which has taken place every year on Dec 20 since 2016, are also boosting participation numbers.

Chen Zhe, director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Sports Bureau, says the annual celebration has led to more than 70 million people participating in winter sports.

Outside of tourism, Heilongjiang's wider economy is also benefiting from the province's exceptionally cold climate.

Every winter, major auto manufacturers descend on Heihe, a city on the border between China and Russia, to conduct low-temperature tests on their cars.

Data shows the niche sector is worth over 400 million yuan (about $62 million) to Heihe each winter.

There are countless other examples of "cold resources" heating the Heilongjiang economy, including the globally renowned Harbin Ice and Snow World.

Heilongjiang people have learned to love their harsh winters－and Fan no longer needs to chop wood. "I opened a guesthouse with 30 rooms and now I'm worried that it won't snow!" he said.

Xinhua