China's 'Ice City' cracks down on ticket scalping in winter tourism

HARBIN -- In response to recent ticket scalping issues in winter tourism, China's "Ice City" Harbin in northeast Heilongjiang province has cracked down on 21 ticket reselling cases and arrested 23 offenders, the local police said Saturday.

Harbin has emerged as one of China's top winter travel destinations, attracting visitors from around the globe. The city is particularly famous for its Harbin Ice-Snow World, the largest ice-and-snow theme park in the world, with this year's edition opening on Dec 21.

According to the Harbin Public Security Bureau, ticket scalpers illegally acquired park tickets through software from online platforms and then resold them at inflated prices.

To combat these illicit activities, the bureau established a special task force that has gathered intelligence and increased patrols.

According to the initial investigation, the arrested scalpers resold tickets and reservation codes for park attractions, inflating prices from 20 yuan (about $2.8) to as much as 2,000 yuan.

Further investigation is currently underway, the bureau said.