Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province that is famous for its snow and ice tourism, has become the hottest travel destination this winter. It received 3.04 million visitors and made tourism revenue of 5.9 billion yuan ($824 million) during the three-day New Year's Day holiday.

So hot has been its social media-boosted appeal that some visitors may not even be aware of why it created a buzz in the first place. It was in mid-December that the 25th Harbin Ice and Snow World opened, attracting over 40,000 tourists on the first day. Yet the organizers had to refund the ticket money to some of them because they complained about having to wait in long queues in the bitter cold. The local tourist bureau responded quickly by hurrying to site and solving the problem. This gave the people a good impression of the city.

While the incident has made Harbin the go-to place of the moment, the city's good service, varied snow and ice attractions and rich historical and cultural resources can ensure that Harbin remains a popular tourism destination even when the buzz has moved on to somewhere else.

After all, good service is what tourists want when they visit somewhere. Other cities can draw lessons from Harbin's success this winter.