Winter sports boom during New Year's holiday

The winter sports sector is expecting a surge in business, according to a report in the Beijing News.

Stats from Beijing's Parks Administration shows 56,000 of 580,000 park visitors were involved in winter sports activities during three-day New Year holiday, registering a year-on-year increase of 4.8 percent.

People skate on an ice rink at Beihai Park in Beijing on December 30, 2017. [Photo: VCG]

Among the winter activities was the Beijing Ice and Snow Garden Party, which was launched on December 27. A variety of other recreational winter activities have also been set up in various municipal parks throughout Beijing, attracting significant crowds.

Parents and their children enjoy ice-based recreational activities at Yuyuantan Park in Beijing on December 28, 2017. [Photo: VCG]

This year's Harbin Ice and Snow World event in Heilongjiang's capital saw 116,800 tourists visit over the New Year holiday.

People celebrate the New Year at the Ice and Snow World Part in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on December 31, 2017. [Photo: VCG]

Tourism authorities in Xinjiang also claim as many as one million tourists either skated or skied on the first day of the new year.

Children ski in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on January 1, 2018. [Photo: VCG]

"We took in 15,000 visitors through the three-day holiday," said Chen Liansheng, chair of the Baiyun Ski Resort, located on the outskirts of Xinjiang's regional capital, Urumqi.