China’s “ice city” Harbin — warm visitors from all over the world
(Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, December 31, 2023. /CFP)
This winter, the city of Harbin has spared no effort to show sincerity and creativity in entertaining, if not spoiling, tourists from all over the world.
Currently, Chinese netizens have portrayed the city as a generous big brother who is doing everything possible to entertain guests coming from afar with its unique charms and creative ideas.
Harbin has long been a major tourist attraction in winter, and it has garnered more attention this winter. It ranked fifth among the most popular cities for the 2024 New Year holiday, following Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu. Among the top 10 cities, Harbin is the only one located in northeast China. During the recent three-day New Year holiday, Harbin received over 3 million tourists, creating a revenue of 5.9 billion yuan ($ 826 million), according to the latest data from the Harbin municipal bureau of culture, radio, television and tourism. Both numbers surpassed historic highs.
The boom cannot be attributed to pure luck since Harbin has been preparing for it for a year, said He Jing, director of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Heilongjiang Province. She said the city has been rolling out plans since the beginning of 2023 to boost its tourism sector, attracting attention on various social media platforms. “We stand in the shoes of tourists. We pay special attention to their comments under our videos published on social media platforms. Whatever tourists complain about, we move and improve immediately,” she told CMG.
To “rescue” tourists who are not used to the cold weather, the city built many temporary heated rest rooms for them, providing warm drinks for free. Frozen pears, a local specialty, were cut into the shapes of flowers so that tourists could enjoy them conveniently. The city even flies a big artificial moon over the Saint Sophia Cathedral so that tourists can take stylish pictures. “We want to impress tourists with all the small details, letting them feel comfortable and respected,” said He.
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following best summarizes Harbin’s tourism performance during the recent three-day New Year holiday?| A．Harbin received a moderate number of tourists and generated average revenue. |
| B．Harbin experienced a significant increase in tourist arrivals and revenue. |
| C．Harbin’s tourism sector struggled and received very few tourists. |
| D．Harbin’s tourism sector performed poorly due to bad weather conditions. |
| A．Pure luck. |
| B．Complaints from tourists. |
| C．Social media attention alone. |
| D．Long-term preparation and immediate response to tourist feedback. |
| A．Providing free warm drinks and building heated rest rooms. |
| B．Cutting frozen pears into flower shapes for convenience. |
| C．Flying a big artificial moon over the Saint Sophia Cathedral. |
| D．All of the above. |
| A．Harbin is a major tourist attraction in winter. |
| B．Harbin has been preparing for its tourism boom for a year. |
| C．Harbin has received a large number of tourists during the New Year holiday. |
| D．Harbin has spared no effort to entertain tourists and has received a great success this winter. |
