New ice park warms hearts in Jilin

In the first month of its opening, the park, which can accommodate 30,000 people, recorded more than 20,000 visitors on a single day.

Tickets have been priced at about 300 yuan per person for those outside Jilin province and nearly 200 yuan for locals.

"Compared with Harbin Ice and Snow World, Changchun is not as cold, which means southern visitors can get used to northern weather easily," Chen says, adding the park and the ski resort are located by a mountain and lake, which provides a better view of nature.

According to a report of the China Tourism Academy released in early January, the country is anticipating a boom in ice and snow tourism ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

China received 224 million tourists from both home and abroad last winter (late 2018 to early 2019), a 13.7 percent increase compared with the year before.

Winter tourism revenue reached 386 billion yuan, a 17.1 percent year-on-year increase, according to the report.

Harbin and Yichun in Heilongjiang province, and Changchun and Jilin city are all on the list for China's most popular winter tourism destinations.