Northern highlights

Hunting in the forest of Heihe.  [Photo provided to China Daily]

Sun Island's snow-sculpture exhibition received half a million visits, up 8.3 percent year-on-year. Yabuli's ski resorts got 450,000, up 26.5 percent. And 560,000 visits were recorded in Xuexiang village, up 7.24 percent.

So, Heilongjiang is introducing new itineraries to draw even more sojourners this year.

"We're paying more attention to the integration of ice, snow and culture," says Heilongjiang's tourism authority director, Xi Dongguang.

Local authorities have organized over 100 major events, featuring sports, culture and photography.

Major parks will host activities. Travelers can zip along frozen water via ice chutes, dogsleds and snowmobiles.