China's ice and snow tourism is entering "a new stage of sustained prosperity," with the season from December 2025 to February 2026 expected to see 360 million winter tourism trips and around 450 billion yuan (about 64.31 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue, according to a report released on Monday by the China Tourism Academy (CTA).
The report points out that the ice and snow tourism market has huge growth potential. A recent CTA survey found that 74.8 percent of of respondents planned to take part in related leisure activities during the 2025-2026 winter season, and 50.5 percent intended to travel long distances to engage in winter tourism.
It notes that consumer spending is shifting from typical "hard expenses" like transportation and accommodation to more "soft expenses" such as entertainment, cultural experiences and technology, reflecting a shift in both the quality and structure of winter tourism in China.
According to the report, in addition to the country's northern snow belt, which houses traditionally popular ski destinations, central and southern regions have also created their own winter wonderland, largely by building indoor resorts.
It says that indoor complexes have become a key investment area, fueling year-round tourism demand.
China expects 360 mln ice, snow tourism trips in 2025-2026 winter season: report
China expects 360 mln ice, snow tourism trips in 2025-2026 winter season: report
The Chinese naval hospital ship, Silk Road Ark, carried out a medical rescue drill in Atlantic waters during its Mission Harmony 2025, testing its capability to provide medical support during long-distance deployments.
The drill marked the vessel's first overseas medical-support exercise in unfamiliar waters in 2026, designed to simulate real-world emergency response scenarios far from home ports.
It brought together the hospital ship, a sea-based medical facility and shipborne helicopters in a coordinated rescue operation.
The exercise was conducted against a simulated backdrop of a commercial vessel in distress on the high seas with multiple casualties. After receiving the emergency signals, a shipborne helicopter immediately took off under an aerial evacuation plan, transferring simulated injured personnel to the triage area for rapid assessment and emergency treatment.
As part of the exercise, medical teams practiced a time-sensitive rescue approach, combining casualty transfer, triage and treatment to ensure prompt and accurate assessment of injuries under operational conditions.
"We followed the principle of providing treatment while transferring and carrying out triage and rescuing, ensuring that casualties are correctly assessed at the earliest time possible. If a patient is in a critical condition, we must carry out necessary emergency treatment in the triage area. Once vital signs are relatively stable, the patient is then transferred to an appropriate treatment unit," said Jiang Yingbo, a member of the Mission Harmony 2025.
Severely injured patients were transferred to intensive care units for further observation and treatment after surgery. A medical expert group then conducted timely consultations to formulate targeted treatment plans.
Under complex sea conditions in distant waters, the drill covered multiple training modules including maritime evacuation, triage, emergency treatment and surgery, strengthening the military medical ship's integrated emergency medical response, and enhancing the navy's far-sea medical support capability, according to the authorities.
Chinese navy hospital ship drills medical rescue in Atlantic waters
