Wondrous Xinjiang: Winter sports fever boosts ice-snow tourism

During the weeklong Spring Festival holiday in February this year, Xinjiang received about 3.6 million tourists, with tourism income reaching some 2.6 billion yuan (about 400 million U.S. dollars).

"Currently, Xinjiang is striving to build a world-class ice and snow industry, and rolling out winter tourism activities such as winter fishing, hot springs, and snow jumping," said Hou Hanmin, deputy director of the regional culture and tourism department. "More fun for the tourists, more money for the local tour operators." ■