Festival hopping, Jilin & Changchun carve their place on the ice circuit
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A frost-covered tree in Jilin. Photo: IC |
One of the best ways to battle the winter chill is to embrace it. In the northeast, a series of festivals are celebrating the icy conditions. While the popular Harbin festival is underway, the nearby Jingyuetan Vasaloppet International Ski Festival, part of Changchun Ice and Snow Tourism Festival, officially opened Saturday and Jilin Wusong International Ice Festival began Monday.
For the first time, Jilin and Changchun are collaborating in a bid to attract more visitors to the neighboring cities.
"We want to build up the concept of regional tourism," Wang Yujie from the Jilin Tourism Bureau told the Global Times. "Both the festivals focus on snow and ice, we would like attract more people to both cites, travelers can visit one after another."
As part of Jilin's opening celebrations, traditional yangge dance was performed, the Songhua River lit up with candles, lights and colorful boats and a huge fireworks party and reception held.
Jilin is famous for a type of frost that forms on the branches of trees, a rare sight that is called wusong and its occurrence in Jilin is listed as one of the four natural wonders of China. The unusual sight is due to the unique balance of temperature, wind and moisture in the air. The temperature of the Songhua River is key to the formation of the frost that forms on the branches of the willow trees and glitters like crystals in the sunshine.
Last year 4.49 million visitors descended on the city, especially keen photographers, most who came to immerse themselves in Jilin's icy world, decorated by the beautiful frost. Wang explained, that due to the cold conditions this year, soft white wusong can already be found in trees across the city.
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