China's 'Ice City' Harbin Draws Record Tourists over New Year Holiday

Children play with snowballs at the Harbin Ice and Snow World, in Harbin, China, 02 January 2024. EPA/WU HAO
Children play with snowballs at the Harbin Ice and Snow World, in Harbin, China, 02 January 2024. EPA/WU HAO
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China's 'Ice City' Harbin Draws Record Tourists over New Year Holiday

Children play with snowballs at the Harbin Ice and Snow World, in Harbin, China, 02 January 2024. EPA/WU HAO
Children play with snowballs at the Harbin Ice and Snow World, in Harbin, China, 02 January 2024. EPA/WU HAO

The "ice city" of Harbin, the snowy capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang province, attracted a record number of visitors over the New Year holiday, many of them drawn by the grand and intricate ice sculptures of its annual Ice and Snow Festival.
The towering ice structures, illuminated in a dazzling array of lights at night, are built from ice blocks harvested from the frozen Songhua River nearby.
This year's festival helped draw 3.05 million visitors to Harbin during the three-day New Year holiday that ended on Monday, generating 5.91 billion yuan ($826 million) in tourism revenue, state media agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.
Those numbers exceeded the number of pre-COVID visits in 2019, Reuters said.
Growth in the city's accommodation and catering sectors during the holiday period more than doubled from 2019, local newspaper Harbin Daily reported. The city's tourism department attributed the growth to Harbin's increasing popularity on social media platforms, Xinhua said.
The tourism boom occurred as China's services activity expanded at the fastest pace in five months in December, lifting optimism in the sector to a three-month high.
Harbin's authorities have rolled out activities to attract tourists including live performances and concerts, theme parks and fireworks displays, as well as improving dining, accommodation and shopping services, Xinhua said.
The Ice and Snow Festival park received 163,200 visitors over the New Year holidays, over five times more than a year ago, with almost 40% of those holiday makers visiting on New Year's Eve, Heilongjiang provincial television said in a social media post.
That generated 46.18 million yuan in income, nearly six times higher than a year ago, the provincial TV station said.
Heilongjiang welcomed 6.619 million tourists over the three-day period, nearly triple from a year ago, producing tourism revenue of 6.920 billion yuan, almost five times the year ago figure, the station reported.
The city government announced a special public holiday, the Ice and Snow Holiday, for Friday, to coincide with the festival's official opening.
The surge in domestic winter tourism has benefited local companies in the sector. Shares of ChangBai Mountain Tourism Co, a travel service company based in northeast China, have soared by 26% in Shanghai trading since the last week of December, beating benchmark shares.



Australia Begins Euthanizing False Killer Whales after Mass Stranding

A undated handout photo made available by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas) on 19 February 2025 shows a person assisting a group of whales after they were stranded near Arthur River on Tasmania's west coast, Australia. EPA/DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
A undated handout photo made available by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas) on 19 February 2025 shows a person assisting a group of whales after they were stranded near Arthur River on Tasmania's west coast, Australia. EPA/DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
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Australia Begins Euthanizing False Killer Whales after Mass Stranding

A undated handout photo made available by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas) on 19 February 2025 shows a person assisting a group of whales after they were stranded near Arthur River on Tasmania's west coast, Australia. EPA/DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
A undated handout photo made available by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas) on 19 February 2025 shows a person assisting a group of whales after they were stranded near Arthur River on Tasmania's west coast, Australia. EPA/DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

Dozens of false killer whales stranded on a remote beach in the Australian state of Tasmania will be euthanized after bad weather and the isolated location hampered efforts to push them back into the waters, Australian authorities said on Thursday.
More than 150 endangered dolphins, known commonly as false killer whales due to their resemblance to killer whales, were found stranded this week in the island state's northwest coast near Arthur River, about 400 km (250 miles) from Tasmania's state capital, Hobart.
"The conditions that the team faced yesterday in attempts to refloat the whales proved very challenging and in fact, dangerous to our staff," Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Brendon Clark said in a media briefing.
A total of 27 animals were euthanised on Thursday morning while 38 were still alive, Reuters quoted Clark as saying.
The euthanasia process is expected to finish later on Thursday.
Officials have said the stranding response would be complex due to the inaccessibility of the site, ocean conditions and the challenges of getting specialist equipment to the remote area.
The animals can grow up to 20 feet (6.1 m) long and weigh up to 3,000 lbs (1,361 kg). They are found in all tropical and subtropical oceans, generally in deep offshore waters, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.