Jilin’s winter wonderland heating up
Tourists flocking to northeast province in droves to enjoy snowy landscapes
When it snows, Naitou, a village in Northeast China’s Jilin province, becomes a fairy tale-like winter wonderland. Now the famous village near Changbai Mountain attracts travelers to enjoy snow tubing, hiking adventures and even hunting and fishing expeditions.
This winter, which marks the first complete season of ice and snow travel after China optimized its COVID-19 response measures, has seen strong growth in the number of travelers and related tourism revenue.
Like Naitou, located in the Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture, a number of small villages in Jilin have become popular tourist destinations with their distinguished features, and have fueled incomes and business growth of villagers and retailers.
For instance, Naitou has actively developed rural experience tours that are integrated with Korean ethnic group folk culture, opened multiple restaurants that include performances of folk arts, and renovated village homes into bed-andbreakfast homestays with distinctive decor.
“Naitou has developed red tourism routes, built ice and snow parks and shaped a regional rural tourism chain with various projects,” said Yang Lina, chairman of a homestay cooperative council in Jilin.
“The village has signed cooperation agreements with multiple travel agencies nationwide and cooperated with several online travel agencies to promote the area,” Yang said.
Since December, the tourism sector in Northeast China, led by the “ice city” of Harbin — capital of Heilongjiang province — has achieved new records this winter. The travel appeal of Harbin has also driven the popularity of other cities in the region.
During the Chinese New Year break from Feb 10 to 17, booking volumes of hotels in Changchun, Jilin and Shenyang, Liaoning province, jumped over fourfold year-on-year, said Qunar, a Beijing-based online travel agency.
The frigid weather did little to curb tourists’ enthusiasm for camping, which has become one of the most popular activities in Naitou. Visitors wear folk costumes and get to mingle with reindeer as they gather around hotpots and bonfires.
Last winter, Naitou served some 110,000 person visits. This winter, the local ice and snow parks expanded recreational areas and added more modes of entertainment, and the local government hopes visitors can experience different Korean ethnic cultural aspects and ice and snow events via new platforms and scenarios.
In addition to winter tourism, Naitou has developed itself into a place suitable for travel during all seasons, which includes flower appreciation in spring, and fall foliage excursions.
In 2023, Changchun Longjia International Airport handled some 114,000 flights, up 15.8 percent compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Meanwhile, the airport handled 15.49 million passenger trips, growing 11.1 percent over 2019. The level of recovery ranked tops among 10-million-level airports nationwide, according to the local government.
Last year, Jilin received 314 million person visits, jumping 173 percent year-on-year and reaching 126.5 percent of 2019 level. The province also achieved total tourism revenue of 527.7 billion yuan ($73.3 billion), surging 242 percent yearon-year and exceeding 2019 figures, setting a record high, the local government said.
“This year, Jilin will build more world-class ice and snow tourism destinations and support the expansion of nine key ski resorts, as well as making investments in summer resorts. The province aims to achieve an annual tourism revenue of 600 billion yuan,” said Hu Yuting, governor of Jilin province.
Since the holding of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, teenagers and youngsters in China have shown an increasing interest in skiing-related activities. Chinese people born in the 1990s and after the year 2000 are the main groups of skiers, said Nanjing, Jiangsu province-based online travel agency Tuniu.
The number of bookings for skiing-related services made by these two age groups put together accounts for 60 percent of the total of such bookings, and the number of children who have gone skiing with their parents is on the rise, Tuniu said.
Naitou, located along the border of China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, had only 30
This year, Jilin will build more worldclass ice and snow tourism destinations ... The province aims to achieve an annual tourism revenue of 600 billion yuan.”
Hu Yuting, governor of Jilin province
households back in 2017. Now, the number of households exceeds 2,000. The village is only 18 kilometers from the Changbai Mountain scenic area, and it boasts unique ecological resources.
Yang was one of a group of young people who went back to their hometowns to help contribute to the growth of ice and snow tourism in Northeast China. She returned to her hometown in 2011 to help explore local folk culture resources and develop rural tourism.
By integrating red tourism culture, Korean folk culture and local ecological resources, Yang and others have helped build Naitou into a renowned rural tourism destination. The village is now home to hot springs resorts, luxury bed-andbreakfast homestays and Changbai Mountain cultural and history exhibition halls.
“Before, the annual income of local villagers was only about 3,000 yuan, and the popularity of tourism has helped raise their incomes to 40,000 yuan annually, which has also helped with rural revitalization,” Yang said.
Meanwhile, another village near Chagan Lake in Jilin, which is famous for winter-harvested fish, has become a popular tourist spot with a large number of seafood restaurants graced by beautiful village homes featuring white walls and blue tiles.
The village, Xisuo Entu, is surrounded by the lake on three sides and has integrated itself with the nearby views. A bus transfer station is located at the village entrance.
It is also located close to some sightseeing spots such as the local fishing and hunting culture museum, and the fishing and hunting cultural tourism festival is held in the village annually.
“Now, we have more than 80 restaurants and homestays in the village, and the daily reception of visitors could reach 20,000 person visits. With booming winter tourism, the average annual income of villagers has doubled and could reach as high as 32,000 yuan,” said Duan Chunbo, an accounting clerk of the village.
The local government said it would vigorously help promote the creation of a 5A-level scenic spot designation for Chagan Lake, and develop high-quality red tourism, rural tourism, health and wellness tourism, as well as study tours in the region. It will also help promote the building of nostalgic landmarks at industrial sites and focus on developing innovative marketing models.