The 12th Heilongjiang Ski Festival will open on December 12 in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province. It is rumored to be the biggest ski festival the province has seen yet.

Each ski resort in Heilongjiang will hold various kinds of tourist activities. During the four months of the ski festival, more than 100 events will be held in all of Heilongjiang. Large-scale ski parks will hold more than 50 skiing and skating recreational competitions, as well as introduce a number of preferential policies for skiing.

The city of Harbin will also host many ski-related expos. The 25th China International Sporting Goods Fair and the China Sports Tourism Expo will be held from December 11-13. The exhibitions will display and promote special Heilongjiang tourist products. In mid-January, 2010, the Heilongjiang Provincial Tourism Bureau and Harbin Badminton Association will jointly host the "Chinese Cup," a badminton competition for Chinese teams around the world. About 1,500 players from nearly 100 overseas Chinese teams have been invited to partake in the tournament. In addition, members of the International Ski Tourism Regional League (a league started by Heilongjiang Province) will meet in Harbin to discuss ways in which to promote Northeast Asia ski tourism and strengthen further corporation.

This will be the first ice and snow season since the 24th Winter Universiade were held in Harbin this past February. According to a spokesman with the Heilongjiang Tourism Bureau, the festival will further the image created by the Games, as well as promote the region’s unique ski tourism industry, enlarge its international influence and strengthen its image as an "International Skiing Tourism Resort and World Ice and Snow Tourism City."