Liaoning to open tourist train during Spring Festival

Passengers board the winter tourist train of Shenyang Bureau Group Co of China Railway. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A new train service will be inaugurated during Spring Festival, catering to tourists who want to celebrate the festival in a winter wonderland.

According to Shenyang Bureau Group Co of China Railway, passengers can enjoy one-stop service on the trains and also be able to go and occasionally visit scenic spots along the rail journey.

The service will cover more than 20 special routes in Liaoning and other northeastern provinces, which feature major winter tourist destinations and an impressive array of winter sports, according to Wang Shushan, deputy general manager from Shenyang Railway International Tourism Service.

With China's successful bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and the central government's call for "300 million people to join in ice and snow sports", winter tourism is becoming hot a choice for Chinese families, especially from central and southern China where there is rarely snowfall. This has also boosted the winter tourism market in Liaoning, which boasts outstanding geographical and cultural resources.

According to the tourism industry report, Liaoning's tourism revenue reached 3.13 billion yuan, receiving 4.471 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 30 percent in January 2018.