China News Service, Harbin, February 15th: What are the implications of the explosion in Harbin?
China News Service reporter Wang Lin
"White ice and snow cover the black earth, and what grows out of it is always green hope." In the past, the saying "You can't invest in Shanhaiguan" knocked down a boatload of people in the Northeast with one stroke. This winter, a city in Northeast China has attracted world attention due to the explosion of ice and snow tourism. This is Harbin.
On January 5, 2024, the opening ceremony of the 40th China Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival and the France-China Culture and Tourism Year was held at the Harbin Ice and Snow World. (Photo provided by Harbin official)
This winter, "Erbin" is like a stage, with brotherly provinces in the Northeast coming to contribute, where the north and the south interact, and the east and west mingle... What this stage holds up is people's hope for development.
The profound foundation of the integration of Eastern and Western cultures is the internal force
On the Central Street of Harbin, where tourists are constantly flowing, a unique "tour guide group" appeared, including senior professors in their 60s, young backbones of scientific research and teaching, people studying history, archeology, and tourism management... This group It is a propaganda group of the School of History, Culture and Tourism of Heilongjiang University. Its goal is to "tell Harbin to China and tell China to the world."
One of the speakers, Gao Longbin, is an associate professor at the School of History, Culture and Tourism of Heilongjiang University and the executive director of the Heilongjiang Harbin History and Culture Research Association. He believes that the underlying reason for Harbin’s emergence from the industry lies in the favorable weather, location, political connections and people. External forces are the conditions and internal forces are the foundation. The cultural heritage of this city is the basis for attracting tourists and the confidence to hold on and stand firm.
Central Street in Harbin is decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations to welcome the Chinese Year of the Dragon. Photo by Zhao Yuhang
Harbin’s ice and snow culture has a long history. In China's high latitude and cold areas, many ethnic groups live here. The ancestors dug ice from the river to fish, made their own ice lanterns for lighting, and carried out ice play sports. Expatriates from more than 40 countries, including Russia and Italy, once lived in Harbin, where many Chinese heard symphony, saw ballet, and enjoyed ice acrobatics for the first time...
From Gao Longbin's "classroom" on Central Street, Chinese and foreign tourists learned the story behind Harbin: "The Central Street in front of you was built in 1898... After the China-Eastern Railway was opened to traffic in 1903, Harbin became a window for Western culture to be introduced into China. , is also the station where Chinese culture was introduced to the West. Harbin, a diverse, interactive and symbiotic city, has become an important area for exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations."
This winter, many classic buildings in Harbin have become popular check-in spots for tourists. The Byzantine-style Sophia Church is illuminated by the artificial moon, the Chinese Baroque neighborhood in Laodaowai is made more romantic by the ice rose wall, and Central Street, known as the "Architectural Art Museum", has become a show venue for Chinese and foreign tourists.
On the evening of December 14, 2023, an artificial moon with a diameter of 5 meters rose in Sophia Square, Harbin. Photo by Zhang Yuxin
Creativity ignites "a fire in winter", and the raw material of this fire is Harbin's "geographical advantage". The special geographical location and historical process have created Harbin's unique urban context and architectural art, which gives rise to the mystery of "Hogwarts" and the dream of "City in the North".
This winter, there are long queues not only for the super ice slide, but also for the crime evidence exhibition hall of the 731st Unit of the Japanese Invaders. The young guide used a childish voice to let Chinese and foreign tourists listen to the heavy history that is imprinted on the hearts of the Chinese people. In the ice and snow of Harbin, our ancestors wrote the spirit of the Northeast Anti-Japanese War with their blood, and nurtured the spirit of the Great Northern Wilderness with their pioneering efforts.
Gao Longbin said: "Here, tourists can not only experience Harbin's 'material' ice and snow entertainment, but also enjoy the 'spiritual' ice and snow culture."
The power of upward growth
In August 2023, the Harbin Madier Cultural Tourism Investment Group was reorganized and unveiled, covering "half of the country" in Harbin's cultural tourism industry. "Unified operation after integration can realize the linkage of resources, the exchange of talents, and the layout and planning from a higher position." said Zhou Wei, deputy secretary of the party committee and general manager of Harbin Madier Cultural Tourism Investment Group.
In the first winter after epidemic prevention and control has been stabilized, China’s ice and snow tourism market is about to explode, and Harbin has seized the opportunity. According to the latest data from the Harbin Culture and Tourism Bureau, the city will receive a total of 135 million tourists in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 145.78% and an increase of 41.4% over 2019.
"For so many years, the most harmful sentence to the three northeastern provinces is 'You can't invest in Shanhaiguan', so many people who don't 'see is believing' have been subjectively led astray by this sentence." Zhou Wei said that this winter , people finally saw the hard work and simplicity of the Northeast people and felt the booming economic vitality of the Northeast.
"Heilongjiang Province promotes from a high level and focuses on building the ice and snow economy as one of the four new engines of economic development, promoting the development of the entire industry chain of ice and snow sports, ice and snow culture, ice and snow equipment, and ice and snow tourism." Zhou Wei analyzed, the so-called "what tourists want, what do tourists want? "Whatever we do" means adjusting the supply side according to the demand side, which is a real change in management philosophy and service awareness.
On January 2, 2024, two overseas tourists took a group photo on Central Street in Harbin holding Madiel popsicles. Photo by Zhao Yuhang
New media plays an important role in this. Before the ice and snow season in Harbin comes, a public opinion atmosphere of "love before the tune is formed" has formed on the Internet. Zhou Wei likens cultural tourism marketing to Harbin’s “three axes”: core IP creation, emotional value provision, and consumption scene construction.
When the short video exploded in a geometric pattern, Harbin’s long-standing intentions were finally seen. The touching thing about this city is that it sees everyone who comes here at the same time, listens to the suggestions of netizens, and responds to the needs of tourists.
People are the protagonists of Harbin’s outing, and the flow of emotions between people turns this city of ice and snow into a city of warmth. "Next, the atmosphere for investment promotion and the attraction of talent return will increase." Zhou Wei said.
The popularity of Harbin not only provides "Harbin experience" for cultural tourism across China, but also provides people with positive emotional value. Guangxi's "Little Sugar Orange" group visited, Taiwan's "Little Angelica" praised and expressed their love, and the national cultural tourism style was "involved"... Behind this ice and snow party is the burst of people's suppressed emotions for a long time, and is a reflection of a better life and The desire for hometown development.
Zhou Wei said with emotion: "Chinese people are used to expressing implicitly, but this time they expressed unrestrainedly. Unrestrained expression is a kind of strength, and encouraging each other is a kind of strength. Harbin has set up a stage to inspire sincere, kind and warm people." , surging emotional resonance. On the occasion of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, it expresses the people's feelings about home and country and their beautiful vision."
Hope for the world
Flowers bloom inside the walls and fragrance outside the walls. The global search popularity of the word "Harbin" continues to rise. Foreign media are rushing to report that the number of inbound tourism orders has increased significantly. The "Central Street Foreign Missions Investment Promotion Conference" was held recently. 44 countries, Nearly 400 foreign guests gathered in Harbin.
Top-notch "Erbin" is not made in a day, and there is a long way to go to promote Chinese ice and snow art to the world. Zhang Xin, an associate professor at the Academy of Fine Arts of Harbin Normal University, a director of the WICA World Ice Sculpture Alliance, and the secretary-general of the Ice and Snow Culture Working Committee of the Chinese Culture and Art Development Promotion Association, is one of the witnesses of this process.
Harbin is the birthplace of Chinese ice lantern and snow sculpture art, and is also the first city in China to launch ice and snow tourism. Ice and snow sculptors from all over the world come in droves to compete in international ice and snow sculpture competitions, and also go abroad through government diplomatic activities and private business activities, gradually forming a unique "international ice and snow circle of friends" in Harbin.
Zhang Xin said that Harbin has carried out international ice and snow cultural exchanges early, with a wide scope, large number and large number of people, and has formed a wide range of influence around the world. Today, Harbin is still an international ice and snow city with the largest ice and snow sculpture art team and the most ice and snow sculpture industry projects globally.
The international exchange event that impressed him the most was in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. “100 local primary school students voted for ice sculptures. Whichever country’s work they like, they will put the national flag of that country. I won the largest number of five-star red flags, representing China. Won the 'Special Cultural Contribution Award'."
2024 will mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. Harbin Ice and Snow World will build a "Fairy Tale Kingdom" landscape group to allow tourists to experience the charm of the integration of Chinese and French cultures. (Photo courtesy of Harbin Ice and Snow World)
2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. The opening ceremony of the 40th China Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival and the France-China Culture and Tourism Year was held on January 5 at the Harbin Ice and Snow World. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Norway, and the Chinese Ice Sculpture Lantern Art Exhibition was held in Norway. Zhang Xin participated in these two activities. He said that Harbin is using ice and snow as a medium to show Chinese wisdom and Chinese style to the world.
Strolling through the Harbin Ice and Snow World, the Russian castle is beautifully built with ice, symbolizing the everlasting friendship between the Chinese and Russian peoples. The giant ice structures of Notre Dame de Paris and the Temple of Heaven in China echo each other and are connected by an "ice bridge" representing friendship. "Harbin Ice and Snow World is not only the world's largest ice and snow theme park, but also undertakes the function of promoting China's foreign exchanges and conveying international emotional cognition." Zhang Xin said.
The "crossing the castle" landscape of Harbin Ice and Snow World presents the exotic style of a Russian castle. Photo by Zhao Yuhang
As the director of the Ice and Snow Sculpture Creative Design Practice Center of Harbin Normal University, Zhang Xin, together with teachers and students, teaches Chinese and foreign children to experience ice sculpture and ice printmaking. Ice and snow carvers from various countries also present their works to tourists. He said: "The cool ice and snow, and the hot sincerity are Harbin's souvenirs for the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon to tourists at home and abroad." (End)