Harbin in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province was voted as one of the most popular travel destinations in China for the 2020 New Year’s Day, according to the 2019 Free Traveler Travel Preferences Data Report recently released by Chinese online travel agency,  Mafengwo.

Harbin ranked fourth on the top 10 travel destination list, following Beijing, Chengdu in Sichuan province and Sanya in Hainan province. It was followed by Shanghai, Guangzhou in Guangdong province, Xiamen in Fujian province, Chongqing, Lijiang in Yunnan province and Xi’an in Shaanxi province.

The report said Harbin won the honor due to its rich ice and snow resources, high-quality tourism services, good environmental protection of winter scenic sites and vigorous support from the local government, all of which brought it high scores in the selection criteria.

The annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival was recognized as the top winter tourism activity in China -- according to an annual winter tourism report released by the China Tourism Academy in Changchun, in Jilin province, on Dec 23 last year.

Meanwhile, Yabuli Sunshine Ski Resort and Yabuli Ski Resort in Harbin were recognized as the top ski resorts.

Originally starting as the Ice Lantern Show in 1985, the Harbin ice festival has become one of the world's four largest ice and snow festivals, along with the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan, the Quebec Winter Carnival in Canada and Norway's Ski Festival.

In recent years, Harbin has been gaining an increasing reputation for winter tourism, which has boosted the economic development of the city.