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This winter, Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, has spared no effort in showing its sincerity and creativity in entertaining, if not spoiling, tourists from all over the world. 

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 ranked fifth in China among the most popular cities for the 2024 New Year holiday. It was reported that Harbin received more than three million tourists, generating more than 5.9 billion yuan (US $831 million) in revenues during the three-day holiday. 

Harbin's tourism boom is also a testament to China's burgeoning enthusiasm for winter sports, with the city set to host the 2025 Asian Winter Games. 

The 40th China Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival and France-China Year of Culture and Tourism kicked off at Harbin Ice-Snow World, an ice and snow theme park famous for snow views and ice sculptures, on January 5.

The day prior to the festival, a ceremony was held at Sun Island Scenic Spot to unveil the image of Harbin as a child-friendly city — two snow dolls, Er'er Binbin. The event was a prelude to the promotion of Harbin becoming a child-friendly city in 2024. 

The ceremony was organized by Harbin Working Committee on Women and Children, Harbin Women's Federation, the Party Working Committee of Harbin New Area and Harbin Madieer Culture and Tourism Investment Group. 

The organizers are conducting a month-long activity to solicit a logo, slogan and theme song promoting Harbin as a child-friendly city. Participants can submit their creations to etyhcs@126.com before midnight on February 4. 

The tourism boom of Harbin is not the result of pure luck, as the city has been rolling out plans, since the beginning of 2023, to boost its tourism sector, said He Jing, director of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Heilongjiang Province. She said the city's efforts have attracted 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 said. 

Touched by the city's "small details," tourists have shared their heart-warming moments online, which in turn has drawn more curious tourists to the city, and in turn has pushed Harbin to the top of trending topics on the Internet.

(Women of China English Monthly January 2024 issue)