Harbin in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province was voted as the most popular ice and snow tourism destination in China, according to an annual winter tourism report released by the China Tourism Academy in Changchun, Jilin province, Dec 23.

It was followed by Changchun in Jilin, Shenyang in Liaoning, Jilin city in Jilin province, Zhangjiakou in Hebei, Urumqi and Altay in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Yanbian?Korean?Autonomous?Prefecture in Jilin, Hulunbuir in Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Tatong in Shanxi.

Harbin won the honor due to its rich ice and snow resources, high-quality tourism services, good environmental protection of winter scenic sites and vigorous support from the local government, all of which obtained the highest scores among the cities that participated in the competition.

The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival was also recognized as the top winter tourism activity in China.

Meanwhile, Yabuli Sunshine Ski Resort and Yabuli Ski Resort in Harbin were recognized as the top ski resorts.

Originally starting as the Ice Lantern Show in 1985, the Harbin ice festival has become one of the world's four largest ice and snow festivals, along with the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan, the Quebec Winter Carnival in Canada and Norway's Ski Festival.

In recent years, Harbin has been gaining an increasing reputation for winter tourism, which has boosted the economic development of the city.