Ice, snow hot spots spin money in winter

Ice shaped like a blossoming lotus and cute hedgehogs are among the attractions that recently made a salt lake, known as "China's Dead Sea", a tourism hot spot in the biting winter in North China.

Yuncheng Salt Lake in Shanxi province covers an area of 132 square kilometers. Located in the city of Yuncheng, the lake was recently covered in "mirabilite flowers of various forms" as mirabilite crystallized on the lake surface.

The crystal-clear "flowers" attracted quite a few tourists despite the freezing cold. "I've waited many days to take pictures of this phenomenon," said photographer Zhao Peng. "The temperature has dropped today, which helped the mirabilite crystallize."

Mirabilite, or sodium sulfate decahydrate, only crystallizes under minus 5 degrees Celsius, according to Liu Guoli, who has worked beside the lake for decades. "The phenomenon does not happen every year," Liu said.

In this winter, cold and snowy places like North China, Northeast China, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region of Northwest China, Japan, Switzerland and North America have emerged as the top skiing destinations for Chinese travelers, according to Qunar, a firm that was acquired by Ctrip, China's largest online travel agency.

This winter's new fashions for Chinese tourists include taking helicopter rides to visit skiing resorts, where they also get to eat hotpot food. They then take pictures with reindeer, visit ice and snow museums, take part in various other fun activities - all of which are big money-spinners for various segments of the tourism industry.

Xinhua contributed to this story.