China rolls out school breaks to snowball winter tourism fever

CHANGCHUN -- A five-day "snow break" for primary and secondary school students starts in Northeast China's Jilin province from Wednesday, as multiple snow-themed vacations are implemented across the country to facilitate winter travel and sports participation amid the upcoming winter tourism peak.

Students are granted a three-hour free experience for every ski resort, ice rink and A-level tourist attraction per day during the period, with their accompanying family members also enjoying ticket discounts, said Sun Guangzhi, director of the Jilin provincial department of culture and tourism.

Boasting some of China's top ice-and-snow resorts, Jilin wishes to introduce its ice-and-snow wonders to a broader audience with the newly announced "snow break," further vitalizing its local economy, Sun said.

The break has already contributed to a 25-percent and 17-percent year-on-year rise in pre-bookings of the province's Beidahu and Lake Songhua Ski Resort, in coordination with other policies, including a 100-million-yuan (about $14.13 million) package of ice-and-snow vouchers issued since November, Sun added.

Tapping into the winter sports frenzy and the evolving ice-and-snow infrastructure after the 2025 Asian Winter Games, many Chinese regions have announced similar winter vacation-and-discount bundles targeting family customers and sports newcomers to unleash economic momentum.

In Altay prefecture, a renowned ski destination in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, over 73,000 primary and secondary school students embraced their first official "snow break" on Monday, as tourists have already swarmed to the famous Jiangjunshan International Ski Resort for the chilling experience.

The students will enjoy a total of nine days off as the extended break encompasses five days of official holiday from Dec 1 to 5 and the adjacent weekends, said local authorities.

During the snow holiday, students from the prefecture will have free access to multiple local ski resorts and free public transit within Altay city, which is administered by Altay prefecture.

In the 2023-2024 snow season, Altay welcomed about 4.89 million tourist visits, with tourism revenue totaling 5.1 billion yuan. It accounted for about half of the growth in both visits and revenue in Xinjiang's total.

Set to "connect with nature, inherit culture and strengthen students' physical health," according to an official circular, the Altay cultural and tourism departments are partnering with various ski resorts, cultural venues and hotels to provide discounts on skiing, food, accommodations, transportation and cultural activities during the break.

In Northeast China, residents of the prestigious "Ice City" Harbin will continue to enjoy a day off on Jan 5 next year, as it celebrates its annual Ice and Snow Festival with the world's largest ice-and-snow theme park, some 260 snow sculptures, and 60 ice-and-snow entertainment projects.

Paired with the adjoining weekend from January 3 to 4 to become a 3-day holiday, the festival is expected to give an additional boost to local consumption and winter tourism, as the city received a record-breaking 90.35 million visitors and 137.22 billion yuan in total tourist spending last winter, said officials with Harbin's culture, radio, television and tourism department.

China is positioning its ice-and-snow economy as a major growth engine. In November 2024, the General Office of the State Council announced targets to grow the industry to 1.2 trillion yuan by 2027 and 1.5 trillion yuan by 2030.

As the winter tourism peak approaches, winter destinations across China are unveiling dazzling new projects to attract tourists, including hot-spring camps, riverside carnivals, and an ice-and-snow sports Super League featuring professional tournaments and fun-oriented events, such as massive snowball fights.