Kids enjoy snowball fights and snowmen making at an indoor ice-snow playground in Liangjiang. [Photo/WeChat account of Liangjiang New Area]

Chongqing in Southwest China has been ramping up efforts to build stadiums for winter sports events, and promoting the fusion between winter sports and ice and snow tourism.

Chen Ping, a Chongqing resident, decided to take her 10-year-old son to the indoor ski stadium at Chongqing Jihua Park in Liangjiang New Area during the Spring Festival holiday. "My son is really enthusiastic about winter sports. I'll take him to a real ski resort if I get the opportunity," said Chen.

As the first of its kind in Southwest China, the park's ski stadium has a professional ski track that is 150 meters long, 38 meters wide, and 21 meters in height. The park's snowmakers, air coolers and snow blowers ensure year-round winter fun for residents.

Since 2019, Chongqing has initiated a winter sports campaign among government departments, campuses, workshops, the countryside and communities so that more people can discover and appreciate the unique charm and thrills of such sports.

There are currently six ice rinks and nine skating resorts in the municipality, and the population taking part in winter sports has risen from fewer than 10,000 to more than 2 million.

"At the end of last year, we launched a series of Olympic-themed activities to enrich the customer experience, said Wang Chuanliang, manager of the Jinfo Moutain scenic spot. The tourism revenue generated in winter accounts for more than one third of the spot's total annual revenue.

Other attractions in Chongqing, such as Wulong Fairy Mountain and Nantian Lake, are following suit and seeking to combine winter tourism with sports.

"As people born in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s are becoming the major consumption group for winter sports, customers are no longer ok with simply admiring the snow, but want more ice and snow products and service to be offered," said an official of Nanchuan district in charge of culture and tourism. Take Jinfo Mountain for example, multiple new types of business that integrate winter sightseeing with health and education are currently thriving.