New 'snow holiday' in northern Chinese regions boosts winter travel

Winter travel bookings in China have gained a boost this year after several regions announced an additional "snow holiday" for students and many workers in the hopes of further fueling the season's tourism boom and encouraging residents to take up winter sports.

The snow holiday is taking place in cities including Urumqi and Altay in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, as well as across Jilin Province and other regions, offering residents another break during the winter season on top of the usual winter vacation that Chinese students enjoy.

As a result, flight bookings have seen a substantial increase. Data from online travel booking platforms indicate notable spikes in ticket reservations from both Urumqi and Altay from Nov 29 to Dec 7.

Flight bookings departing from Urumqi increased by 45 percent compared to the period from Nov 15 to 23, while bookings departing from Altay increased by 48 percent.

"During the snow holiday, total ticket bookings for scenic spots in Xinjiang increased by 16 percent compared to the previous period, with the most popular attractions including Sayram Lake, Hemu Scenic Area, and Kanas Scenic Area. Meanwhile, Jilin Province implemented a free skiing policy for university students. Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang are also gradually increasing their discounts. Driven by these policies, tourism in many cities in northeast China and Xinjiang has continued to rise this year, and winter tourism destinations have become more diverse," said Shi Ke, a researcher at the big data research institute of Qunar.com, a leading Chinese travel booking platform.

In addition to ski resorts, glacier and snow mountain scenic spots have also become trending destinations for winter tourism. Ticket bookings for famous attractions have doubled year on year.

Hotel reservations at popular ice and snow tourism destinations are also booming. From November this year to the end of January of 2026, hotel bookings in Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang surged by over 80 percent year on year, while cities like Dandong in Liaoning, Liaoyuan in Jilin, and Yichun in Heilongjiang have also seen significant increases, with growth rates reaching 30 percent year on year.

New 'snow holiday' in northern Chinese regions boosts winter travel

China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao outlined the key priorities of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, which opened on Friday in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province.

In an interview with CGTN ahead of the two-day meeting, Wang said free trade, digital cooperation and green economy are high on the agenda of the meeting.

"The key areas include advancing regional economic integration and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, supporting the World Trade Organization (WTO) in strengthening digital cooperation and developing green economy. At present, the international situation is marked by intertwined turbulence and chaos, with intensified geopolitical instability. The rise of unilateralism and protectionism poses serious challenges to the international economic and trade order, disrupting global and Asia-Pacific development. Against this backdrop, all parties have higher expectations for this trade ministers' meeting, hoping that it can build consensus and deliver outcomes," Wang said.

This year marks China's third time hosting the APEC meetings and the 35th anniversary of its membership.

By 2025, China had become the largest trading partner of 13 APEC economies. Trade between China and APEC economies reached 3.7 trillion U.S. dollars, accounting for 57.8 percent of China's total foreign trade.

China has signed 24 free trade agreements or economic and trade arrangements with 31 countries and regions, including 15 APEC economies. In recent years, China has also completed upgrades of free trade agreements with APEC economies such as Singapore and Peru.

The minister said that China has always been a firm supporter and an important contributor to APEC.

"We have actively shared our vast market and development opportunities with all parties. China's door to the world will only open wider and wider. Facing the common challenges, China will continue to fulfill its responsibilities as a major country, further deepen reform, expand high-standard opening-up, and continue to provide new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific region and the world with its new achievements in Chinese modernization," the minister said.

China's Commerce Minister outlines priorities for 32nd APEC trade ministers' meeting