Riding the wave, Jilin aims high for ice-snow economy

With the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics now in full swing, ice-snow tourism in Northeast China's Jilin province is said to be riding high, with booming major ski resorts there now on the must-see list for skiing enthusiasts from all over the country.

The national-level ski resorts of Lake Songhua Ski Resort and Changbaishan International Resort recorded 72 percent and 351 percent growth in tourist numbers, respectively, during the recent Spring Festival holidays.

Jilin is said to be blessed with unique ice and snow resources. In recent years, it has sought to fast-forward the development of its winter economy, as well as the entire related industrial chain including tourism, sports, culture and associated equipment manufacturing.

Changbai Mountains in the east of Jilin and Jilin city and Changchun city in the middle are widely regarded as wonderlands of ice and snow.

On its own, Changbai Mountains boast some of the world's best-quality winter season resources and is known as one of the top three powder snow caps along with the Swiss Alps and the Rocky Mountains.

To date, Jilin province has built 54 ski resorts and installed 279 ski runs with a maximum daily capacity of about 100,000 visitors.

In order to get more people engaged in winter sports, Jilin province has built 557 winter sports schools.

At present, the number of people who participate in winter sports there has reached 10 million annually, of whom 1.2 million are students.

By 2025, the value of Jilin's ice and snow industry is expected to exceed 250 billion yuan ($39.4 billion) with a total number of 100 skiing fields, according to its development plan.