Sloping off for winter

The goal is to encourage people to experience the winter charm of the capital and popularize winter sports ahead of the 2022 winter games, says Wang Yue, deputy head of the Beijing culture and tourism authority.

She says that temple visits, museum exhibitions and special park and library events would also be held during the Spring Festival.

All of these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the country's brisk development of its winter travel business.

Investment in winter tourism has reached approximately 540 billion yuan during 2017-18, according to China Tourism Academy.

According to UNWTO forecasts, the output value of relevant sectors, including winter sports, resorts and exhibitions, are expected to hit 2.92 trillion yuan during the 2021-22 season.

Governments at various levels have increased infrastructure construction in winter destinations.

The new terminal at Changchun Airport, Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed rail and Altay Airport have all given travelers easier access to the nation's winter wonderlands.

The improving domestic winter tourism infrastructure has also turned some regions into snowcapped hot spots, says Chinese travel website Mafengwo.

The ski resorts at Mount Emei and Xiling Snow Mountain have made Sichuan province a popular winter getaway, while Hubei, Zhejiang, Guizhou and Hunan provinces have all built their own winter tourism sites.

Despite cold weather activities being relatively more expensive, more tourists are willing to pay for better experiences and domestic winter tourism spending broke 3,000 yuan per capita, Tuniu reports.

In 2018, the purchase of ski equipment grew by 90 percent year-on-year, according to online retail platform, Tmall.

"Experiencing high-quality winter tourism will be an important theme this winter," Feng Rao, a senior official with Mafengwo's tourism research center, told China Tourism News.

The winter tourism market is offering travelers more quality choices, she explains.

"With a series of positive supervision and standardization work by relevant departments across the country, this year's market environment and tourism services are expected to improve significantly," says Feng.